Three Words
by whoopism15
Summary: When Sakura says three words to Naruto it changes his feelings for her. Now at a difficult time at both their lives can they get past it? Can Sakura prove to him how sorry she is? This will be a NaruSaku! T to be safe. Hope you enjoy the read.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone and welcome to my second story! It will be a NaruSaku but not a very happy one until the end. Just to mention that Sakura may seem out of character at some points in the story especially this chapter. I realize this and it is this way for a reason. I'll have two OCs in this story that will be introduced in this chapter. Thanks! **

**P.S.**

**Thought is represented by '….' **

**Normal speaking by "…." **

**Chapter 1: **

Naruto Uzumaki stood on top of the first Hokage's head at the Valley of the End. Rain poured down from the sky as Sakura and Kakashi looked on. Naruto was beaten up and bloodied. Just like last time he had a hole through his chest which was already healing due to the Kyubi. Blood fell freely from the side of his mouth, and he had many large cuts and bruises all along his body. He knew many of his bones were broken, but he knew Sasuke was in worse condition. Sasuke was standing across from Naruto with a look of pure hatred on his face. He was unable to defeat Naruto with his new Eternal Mangekyo sharingan, and he couldn't with his new forms of Chidori. Naruto's Sage mode and great control over the nine-tails was the reason for this. Naruto watched as the Uchiha formed the hand signs and a Chidori formed in the palm of his hand.

"I'm not going to die yet Naruto." Sasuke yelled from across the Valley, "I still haven't avenged Itachi."

"Please Sasuke come back to the leaf! It's not too late." Naruto pleaded

Sasuke just gave him a death glare, and reared his hand back and got ready to attack. Naruto realizing that he would die if he didn't do something. He started to form a rasengan. The two ran and leapt into the air. Sakura and Kakashi watched as the two collided. There was a loud bang and a huge chakra release. Sakura gasped and got ready for the worse. Naruto closed his eyes and just kept thinking about this whole situation.

'How in the world did this all start?' he asked himself

_Flashback _

_Naruto and Sakura slowly made their way into the Hokage's office. They were surprised to see Kakashi already standing there with a strange look on his face. The blonde Hokage took a deep breath. _

"_I've already told Kakashi, but now I should tell you two", Tsunade said, "We have a report that Sasuke Uchiha and a group of sound ninja are close to the leaf village. You all know that since the beginning of this war the sound and Madara had made an agreement. It appears they plan to attack the leaf directly" _

"_Then what should we do?" Sakura asked sort of already knowing the answer _

"_We want you to find Sasuke and stop him", Tsunade said, "We have already sent out Team Gai to help in the fight with the sound ninja. Since you were on the same team as him I thought you may want to stop him" _

"_So when do we go?" Naruto asked, "I need to stop him" _

"_Naruto you have to understand that if you bring him back to the village he will be treated like a criminal. The elders have agreed that you can either bring him back dead or alive. Just remember the things that will happen to him if he is bought back alive", Tsunade mumbled_

"_I promised Sakura-chan I would bring him back to the leaf", Naruto said confidently, "I will bring him back" _

_Tsunade took a deep breath. There was no changing Naruto's mind. He was going to bring Sasuke back. _

_End Flashback _

Naruto opened his eyes and realized what had happened. His rasengan had hit Sasuke directly in his chest. Sasuke Chidori missed Naruto's vital areas but hit him in the arm. Naruto yelled in pain and began to fall. Naruto was falling head first into the water as was Sasuke. Naruto felt his headband fall off his head. Naruto continued to fall, and closed his eyes again deep in thought.

_Flashback _

_The original members of team seven ran through the forest with Pakkun following Sasuke's scent. Team Gai was taking out the sound ninja. Team Kakashi arrived and found Sasuke who began to run. They followed the Uchiha through the forest. Sasuke seemed to be leading them somewhere on purpose. They finally stopped when they reached the Valley of the End. Sasuke gave a small speech about how it began here and now will end. _

"_Guys you stay back I'll handle Sasuke", Naruto mumbled _

"_But Naruto", Sakura said before being cut off _

"_I told you guys I would be the one to take on Sasuke", Naruto said confidently, "Sakura-chan please believe me" _

"_Naruto", she mumbled, "I will, but be careful" _

_Naruto nodded and the battle began. Naruto and Sasuke battled to the death. Amaterasu flames were everywhere and Naruto was in sage mode. Naruto though lost Sage mode and was impaled by Sasuke's Chidori. Naruto revealed his power to control, the nine-tails and began to heal himself. The battle went on from there resulting in Sasuke using his Susanoo. Naruto using the demon fox's chakra broke through it with sheer force. The result was not good for Sasuke. Sasuke having used way too much chakra along with using many types of the Chidori was tired and barely alive. Naruto had also been hit by many attacks and that led to the current situation. _

_End Flashback _

Naruto continued to fall head first from on top of the waterfall. As he realized he was about to smash into the water someone grabbed him. He looked up to see Kakashi who was breathing heavily. You could tell he was smiling underneath the mask.

"Is Sasuke-teme alright?" Naruto asked

"Naruto just take a break for a second." Kakashi mumbled, "Everything will be fine."

To Naruto that didn't sound very comforting. Something had to be wrong. Then he heard it. From the roar of the falls he could hear sobbing. He looked up to see Sakura hunched over Sasuke's body with her palms green trying to heal his wounds. Kakashi placed Naruto down on the ground and went over to the girl.

'Why am I so upset he's a criminal?' she thought, 'I should be healing Naruto's wounds not his.'

"Sakura he may not be alive." Kakashi said putting a comforting hand on the young girl

Sakura looked up at Kakashi. She couldn't believe he had just said that. She closed her eyes feeling a pained feeling.

_Flashback _

_Sakura and Naruto were ahead of Kakashi. They both had very serious expressions on their faces. Suddenly Naruto turned slightly looking at her. _

"_What is it Naruto?" she asked _

"_I promise we'll bring him back. This time I won't fail you." Naruto said confidently _

"_Naruto if you can't save him don't worry. He's a criminal now. He already made his choice." Sakura said sadly _

"_Don't worry Sakura-chan! I won't stop until you're happy." Naruto said _

'_Thanks Naruto.' Sakura thought _

_End Flashback _

Suddenly like nothing changed she once again became that Sasuke fan-girl. She was the girl that loved him, and thought that he was better than anybody else in the world. Now he was dead and why? Naruto Uzumaki was the one that killed him. Without thinking of what she was doing she got up and walked towards Naruto.

"You." she said with venom in her voice

"Sakura-chan." he mumbled in fear and sadness

"Don't 'Sakura-chan' me!" she yelled, "You promised you would bring him back right? It was a promise of a lifetime! You weren't supposed to kill him!"

Naruto had a look that was mixed with confusion, sadness and anger. He didn't mean to kill the Uchiha. Sasuke was going to kill him.

"I didn't want to Sakura-chan." he whispered

"I didn't want to, isn't going to change the fact that he is dead! I loved him! I thought you promised that you would bring him back! Wasn't it a promise of a lifetime?" Sakura yelled seeming not to know her boundaries

"Enough Sakura." Kakashi warned knowing she was slipping too far into dangerous territory

"I hate you, Naruto." she said clenching her fists and walking towards Sasuke

Naruto still on the ground had a look of such self-anger. He really thought it was his fault. Kakashi looked at his blond student and let out a long sigh. Naruto was in bad condition and now his mental condition was probably in bad shape. He was going to need a long talk with Sakura.

Sakura looked down at the Uchiha who was now dead. He had no pulse and he was still bleeding through various wounds. She took a deep breath and then it hit her.

'Did I just say I hate Naruto?' she asked herself, 'After all he's done for me.'

She turned back to look at the blonde and then she realized. The cuts, bruises, blood and pain on him were caused by a promise made by him to her. Hadn't she just wanted him to stop his promise? Then why was she so angry at him for killing Sasuke? She knew he was a criminal and he would have died anyway.

'He promised though.' she thought, 'He promised that no matter what he would bring Sasuke back. I trusted him and believed in him. Why am I saying this? Sasuke never cared about me. Didn't I say I didn't want him to keep going with his promise?'

She was getting a headache with going back and forth with herself. She was confused and she slowly began to realize what she said to the blond.

'What am I doing I should be healing him!'

She got up from Sasuke's corpse and ran over to the blond. Naruto was trying to get up with Kakashi's help. She placed a hand to one of Naruto's wounds and emitted the emerald chakra. She felt something knock her hand away and realized it was Naruto.

"Naruto." she whispered

"I can wait until we get back to Konoha." Naruto said with a pained expression on his face

Kakashi looked at both his students and wondered. Sakura had a look on her face of pure guilt and Naruto had a slightly pained, betrayed and angered look.

"I think we need to go back to the village." Kakashi said trying to break the silence

"I'll carry Sasuke's body and Naruto back." Kakashi continued, "Sakura you just keep up with me"

"Ok Kakashi-sensei." she mumbled

The group jumped off along with Pakkun, who held Naruto's headband in his mouth.

**Naruto**

Madara was sitting on a chair inside a dimly lit facility. Three people stood with him waiting for news. He was preparing to transplant the Rinnegan. He had sent some sound ninja over to the Hidden Rain village to retrieve Nagato's body. Madara had been through a lot of hard losses. Kabuto, who was supposed to help him, almost killed him along with Sasuke. It was his plot to avenge Orochimaru. Now Kabuto sat alone in another dimension thanks to Madara.

"What is taking that retrieval group so long?" Madara said angrily, "My plans are at a stand still until they return."

"I'm sure they will be here very soon." one of the people said, "They probably failed though. The sound isn't one to have strong ninja."

He was tall with strange designs painted under his eyes. He was slender and had a large utility belt holding strange vials of liquids. His eyes were a sea green and his hair was a dark brown. He looked very old yet full of life. His Akatsuki robe went down to cover his feet.

"Tadao how many times must I tell you not to be so negative?" Madara said, "If you are I will kill you. I don't need to hear the constant insults to my plans."

"Your funny Madara-sama!" the man laughed

The female next to him was shooting him a death glare. She had long white hair with decorative flowers made of ice intertwined into it. She had very pale skin and icy blue colored eyes. Her lips were painted with a ruby red lipstick and she wore her Akatsuki robe around her waist instead of over her body. He turned and looked at her and started laughing.

"Well don't you look angry princess." he laughed pointing at her

As he started laughing water covered his head and he started choking. The female smiled as he fell to his knees obviously trying to beg for oxygen. She moved her hand away and the water disappeared. He placed his hand to his chest taking in deep breaths and then started laughing.

"Masuyo my god that could've killed me!" he yelled laughing

"Next time I will kill you."

Madara turned away and looked at Kisame who had failed in capturing the eight-tails. He had tried, but failed when he was attacked by his old rival, Gai. It ended badly resulting in Kisame loosing both arms. They were placed back by Kabuto, before he defected from the Akatsuki, but the mission failed. He only escaped thanks to Madara.

"Kisame you look stressed." Madara mumbled

Kisame just smiled and nodded. Then almost five seconds later a shaken Zetsu emerged from underground. Madara looked at the plant man hoping to find out what had happened.

"Madara-sama it appears we didn't retrieve the Rinnegan., Zetsu mumbled, "**Plus there is something else" **

"Hurry and tell me", the masked man almost yelled

"It appears that Sasuke is dead." Zetsu said, "**He was killed by the Kyubi brat.**"

There was a pause, "This is a very interesting turn of events. I wasn't expecting he would fail to capture the Kyubi." Madara said almost amused, "Masuyo, Tadao I'm in need of your services"

"Yes Madara-sama", Masuyo said calmly

"You will provide a sufficient distraction while also capturing the nine-tails. Zetsu will retrieve Sasuke's body so I may take one of his eyes." Madara said, "With two different forms of the eternal mangekyo sharingan I can't be stopped."

"If lord Pain could not beat this Kyubi jinchuriki then how shall we?" Masuyo asked

"Don't worry. I have a good feeling that with your combined power it shouldn't be that hard." the masked Uchiha said, "Anyway the caves in the sound are said to have a strong toxin. Tadao you will probably like to take a look especial with your interests in poisons, viruses and toxins."

Tadao smiled and looked back at his partner. She gave him a cold glare and began to walk away through one of the many entrances. Tadao followed with a grin on his face. Madara, Zetsu and Kisame could each hear yelling and then a loud bang.

"Those two get along as well as fire and water." Zetsu remarked

"It doesn't matter how they act. They always get the job done. I'm just happy to hear that Sasuke is dead." Madara said surprising the remaining two; "I needed one of his eyes anyway. Now I don't have to fight him."

"You are a very interesting character." Kisame mumbled

Madara just got up and left. Zetsu and Kisame just sat there talking about recent events.

**Well how was that for a first chapter? I'm hoping it was good, but I know Sakura sounded a bit out of character. I intended Sakura to be out of character, but she'll come back into her normal character next chapter and so on. Thanks and tell me how I'm doing! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello and thanks a lot for the reviews. Sorry I didn't post earlier I was on vacation for awhile. Now anyway, this story should get better in future chapters. There will be some fight scenes. Hope you enjoy chapter 2 and once again thanks!**

**Chapter 2: **

The small team of three along with Pakkun arrived back at the village. The guards at the gate had obvious shocked looks on their faces as Kakashi walked in holding Sasuke's dead body.

"Get me medics." Kakashi said calmly

The guard nodded and raced off. The other guard looked at the team. Naruto had a severely hurt expression on his face while Sakura had a rather concerned and guilty look. In a mere few minutes the other guard came back with five medics and two stretchers. Kakashi placed Naruto on the stretcher and the medics began to check his pulse and everything. Kakashi then placed Sasuke on the other and the medics checked his vital signs. After a few minutes five of the six medics raced off with Naruto and Sasuke while the other medic faced Kakashi.

"Naruto will be fine. The Uchiha is dead. It seems his death was quick but his rib cage seemed to have been crushed back with a lot of force. It hit some vital organs killing him." the medic said, "Naruto has minor internal bleeding and a few broken bones. He has minor cuts all along his body. Factoring in his fast recovery rate he should be fine. The only problem is the hole in his chest. That may give him some breathing problems in the future. Everything else is fine."

"Thank you." Kakashi said bowing

The medic turned and walked off. Kakashi turned to face the pink haired kunoichi. She had a guilty look on her face. Kakashi took a deep breath and walked up to her.

"Sakura what's the matter?" he asked already knowing the answer

"I can't believe I said those things to Naruto." she mumbled

"Sakura go back to your house and wash up. Meet me at our old training grounds and we can talk. I have to go give the mission report to Hokage-sama. Meet me there in about half an hour." Kakashi said walking towards the Hokage mansion

Sakura nodded and walked towards her house waiting for her chat. She had a bad feeling that it wasn't going to be a good one.

_**Naruto **_

Naruto felt hands press against some of his wounds. Foreign chakra poured into him and he winced in pain slightly as his wounds were being healed. He looked up to see Shizune with a worried look on her face. She noticed Naruto looking at her and she stopped the healing process.

"Naruto put your head down ok." Shizune said slightly smiling, "You aren't completely healed yet."

Naruto nodded and rested his head on the pillow. Shizune was surprised at how he didn't fight back when she told him to put his head down. By now he would've been running around the hospital trying to get to the nearest ramen stand.

"Naruto what's wrong?" she asked

"I'm fine just a bit shaken." Naruto mumbled knowing it was only half the truth, "When your done can you just send granny Tsunade in. I want to talk to her a little."

"Of course Naruto." Shizune said placing her hands on more of his cuts and bruises, "I'll be done soon but then you have to rest in the hospital for two days. You still have some broken bones."

Naruto nodded and closed his eyes thinking about recent events.

_**Naruto**_

Kakashi stood across from Tsunade who held the side of her face with her hand. Her elbow placed on her desk. A bottle of sake was on the right side half empty. The two elders were sitting on chairs to the side of the office listening into on what Kakashi was saying about the mission.

"Naruto engaged Sasuke Uchiha at the Valley of the End resulting in Sasuke's death." Kakashi said, "I give all credit to Naruto for this because Sakura and I just watched on."

"Interesting." Koharu said, "We can't punish Naruto because he did kill a missing nin. Sasuke was also responsible for Danzo's death so it is good he is dead."

"The Uchiha though could have been a valuable resource to Konoha though." Homura mumbled, "A necessary but unfortunate death."

Tsunade just gave out a long sigh. She knew Naruto was probably miserable for killing the Uchiha. She turned to Kakashi who looked like he had something else to say.

"Koharu-san and Homura-san I need to speak to Tsunade-sama alone." Kakashi said receiving glares from the elders, "Don't worry everything is fine. Just some personal business that occurred on the mission."

They nodded and began to walk outside the office. Kakashi looked straight at Tsunade with a serious look in his eye. She realized and positioned herself a little upright from her current posture.

"Tsunade-sama something happened on the mission." he began, "After we realized Sasuke was killed Sakura said some things to Naruto."

"I see but what do you expect me to do about it?" Tsunade said, "I could talk to Sakura but that is all."

"You don't understand; Sakura feels tremendous guilt right now. Naruto denied her as she tried to heal him after realizing what she said", Kakashi continued, "We both know how much Naruto loves Sakura so it was pretty hard on him. The thing is Naruto never denied her when she offered help. I'm afraid if we don't do anything their friendship may die. We don't want history to repeat, do we?"

Tsunade pondered this a bit before saying, "I'll talk to both of them, but as their sensei you should do something as well. Everything should be fine. You know them; they always fight and then go out for a bowl of ramen. Unless it's worse then you make it out to be everything will be fine."

'I hope', Kakashi thought

"Now you may go." Tsunade said, "You're dismissed."

"Oh one more thing Hokage-sama." Kakashi said, "I'm having a quick chat with Sakura right now. Afterwards I'll tell her to come talk to you."

Tsunade nodded and watched as Kakashi disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Tsunade took a deep breath and was about to start on her paper work. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Tsunade looked up to see Shizune quickly walk in.

"Shizune didn't I tell you to stay at the hospital?" Tsunade asked

"Sorry Tsunade-sama but Naruto wants to talk to you." Shizune said, "I don't know why but he looks like he needs it."

"Ok Shizune but you need to finish my paperwork." Tsunade said smiling

Shizune let out a long sigh and walked over to the desk. Tsunade left the room smiling.

'I should thank the brat.' Tsunade thought, 'Now I'm free of paperwork.'

_**Naruto **_

It was about six-thirty at night but it was dark still from the clouds. Sakura sat alone on one of the logs in the old training ground. This was the place they became genin. Suddenly many memories flew into her head. They had became team seven here. Sasuke was still with them and Naruto was still care free and less burdened. They had all changed since those days. Then she thought about how Naruto and she along with their sensei had become team Kakashi. She smiled remembering how they tricked Kakashi-sensei into losing.

'Where is he?' Sakura though thinking of Kakashi, 'Wait one second when has he ever been on time?'

She took a deep breath waiting. She just sat on the log as day faded into night. Streetlights started to shine as it reached about seven o'clock. Sakura closed her eyes but was interrupted by a loud poof. She watched as her sensei came out of the cloud of smoke holding one of those books.

"Sorry I'm late." he said calmly

"Whatever Kakashi-sensei." Sakura mumbled

"Ok then Sakura you want someone to comfort you right?" Kakashi asked

"Yeah I guess." Sakura said sadly, "I just told one of my closest friends I hated him. I accused him of ridiculous things and now I'm afraid that he won't give me another chance. I lied to him about my feeling for him and that has been in the past couple months. I just wonder how much more he can take from me. In the past I was even nastier to him. I don't know what to do."

"We both know Naruto can easily forgive anyone." Kakashi said, "I wouldn't be concerned about him forgiving you. The only thing is be prepared to not get much attention from him like you did. This event will probably hurt him a lot."

"I know this isn't right but I've said I hated him in the past. He never would've smacked my hand away as I tried to help him." Sakura guiltily mumbled, "Why now? I'm afraid to see him because I'm afraid of his reaction to seeing me. The way he looked after I told him that I hated him was heart wrenching."

"As one of Naruto's friends you know he has the Kyubi. In other words he has been treated badly through his entire life. He has his precious people that he would protect with his life. You are no doubt on that list and pretty high up." Kakashi said, "Through this year your relationship with him has grown a lot. Back then when you said you hated him he probably was hurt, yet you didn't have the strong bond with him like back then. Now you have the strong bond it hurts him much worse then back then. He probably felt betrayed and severely hurt. He probably thinks if you hate him now that nothing has changed even if your bond had strengthened. That is what hurt him the most."

"So you're saying the magnitude of what I said hurt him more because of our strong bond." Sakura said, "Maybe if I apologize then everything will be fine."

"Sakura we can only hope. Another problem is that he has been made out to be a hero in the eyes of the village and the villagers. That means a lot to him but he also wants you to look at him like that. Now think you said you hated him after he has done so much to gain your approval." Kakashi stated, "Now think of how when you were young always wanting to gain Sasuke's approval. Whenever he shot you down it hurt a lot, am I correct?"

"Yes", Sakura mumbled

"Well now Naruto has gained the approval of everyone in the village, except for the person he feels means the most." Kakashi said, "That is what hurts him the most, the realization that he seems unable to gain your appreciation."

"No, I know he has my approval. He's my closest friend. How could he not think I didn't give him my approval?" Sakura said, "He's always there for me. I'm not even worthy of being his friend so why does my approval mean so much to him? What do you even mean by approval?"

"What I mean by his approval is that he wants you to know and understand how hard it has for been for him. He wants you to realize he will do anything for you and for you to appreciate him because of that. He wants you to love him like he loves you." Kakashi finished

"I-I do know how hard it is for him. I do know he'll do anything for me. He's my teammate and I do love him a little."

"Then why don't you act like it. He doesn't understand that you know all that because you cover it up with harsh words." Kakashi said, "I'm sorry Sakura but I need to be truthful to help you and the truth hurts."

"How would you know all of this?" Sakura said angrily, "He's Naruto, he's not that complicated."

"Sakura I thought I trained a smarter student." Kakashi mumbled, "Naruto, though he may not look it is very hard to figure out. He acts goofy and happy but all he wants is to be accepted by those around him. You are someone he really wants to accepted by. You hurt him and now you have to live with the consequences. I hope you understand a bit more."

"I do Kakashi-sensei I just hope Naruto will forgive me."

"Don't worry Sakura I'm sure in time he will. Now I need to get going Sakura. I told Tsunade you would probably want to talk with her after you talked to me. Maybe you should visit him tomorrow and I'll come with you ok."

Sakura nodded, "Thank you Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi gave her an eye smile. In a puff of smoke he disappeared leaving a confused and guilty feeling Sakura alone.

_**Naruto **_

The two Akatsuki members sat comfortably together in a large room with a large table in the center. The walls were decorated with different patterns and a harp played in the corner. The sound village though a bit disgusting still had its nicer sides. The two ate their bowls of soup slowly occasionally looking up.

"Tadao what's the matter." Masuyo asked, "You aren't acting like yourself."

"Well for one thing princess." he said holding back laughter as flames appeared in her eyes and she jumped out of her seat, "I'm worried about leaving for the leaf village."

Masuyo stopped her fit of rage and calmed down a bit, "You know that us combined can't be beat. Just stop calling me princess and I won't kill you."

"The stuff I found in that cave was disgusting." Tadao said smiling, "I mixed it with other proteins and tested it on humans."

"So what happened?" she asked smiling. Whenever her brother was serious it meant that he had discovered something rather unpleasant

"They pretty much died in gruesome ways." he said thinking for a second, "Oh great now I'm not hungry anymore! Darn and that soup was good."

"Can't you stay on one topic for more than five minutes!" the woman yelled making her partner start laughing, "This isn't funny! I'm being serious!"

"Don't worry I'm sure that if I add a bit more of anti-toxins to the poison that it shouldn't kill immediately. Don't forget we are dealing with the nine-tails. His resistance to poison should keep him alive long enough for the extraction"

"So why can't you tell me what the poison does?" Masuyo asked

"Well I could but I don't think you would want to eat. I feel that it would be cruel of me to ruin your meal." he said, "Anyway mother said not to talk about disgusting things at the table"

"Don't talk about mother." Masuyo said with a pained look in her eyes, "Just tell me what the poison does before I kill you."

"Well in the first hour the poison begins to dehydrate the body. It causes the victim to vomit in large amounts. The victim runs a high fever and is unable to move. It attacks the muscles instantly. Later the victim begins to throw up blood which was really disgusting if you ask me. At one point the victim dies from dehydration and loss of blood." Tadao said, "The victim also appears to have a severe headache and bleeds from his or her nose. It causes painful hemorrhaging. In the end a person is dead without treatments in about eight hours. With treatment maybe a day. I'm going to investigate further into this poison or virus and find out how I can increase the chances of survival in the victim. Then we can use it to capture the nine-tails."

"Disgusting but it may work." Masuyo said smiling while pushing her bowl of soup away, "While you create the perfect poison I'll investigate more about our host. Maybe find some weaknesses. Remember in four days we leave. Gather as much info on you can and then we leave."

"Goodnight sister." Tadao said walking out one entrance

"Goodnight my little brother." she said slightly smiling

She left and walked towards the large door that leads to her room.

_**Naruto **_

Sakura slowly walked into her bedroom. She hadn't talked with Tsunade and decided to go tomorrow. She still had a guilty feeling about what Kakashi had told her. Why did Naruto look up to her so much? She dressed into her usual pink pair of pajama's and lied down in her bed. She was going to make it right if she could tomorrow and with that thought in her head she drifted to sleep. __


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi everyone! Thanks for reading the story. This chapter should cover a couple things and may give background on both OCs! Thanks for reviews! **

**Chapter 3: **

As the sun rose the birds started chirping. The day was very bright without a cloud in the sky. The air wasn't too warm but not to cool. It was in the middle, so all and all it was a very nice day. Sakura felt good about the day as well. It seemed to be a good sign since everything was nice out. She walked through the busy village knowing where she needed to go. She made a right turn at a corner and walked towards where her friend Ino worked. The flower shop owned by Ino's family was a great place to start her day. She walked into the flower shop to see Ino behind the counter looking extremely bored.

"Hey forehead", she mumbled as Sakura walked in

"I have no time for games Ino." Sakura said looking through different selections of flowers

"Do you need any help?" Ino asked walking towards her friend realizing she was very serious

"I'm looking for something yellow or orange." Sakura said searching up and down on one of the shelves

"Who are they for?" Ino asked already knowing but wanting to hear it from Sakura herself

"I'm getting them for Naruto if you must know." Sakura mumbled, "He's in the hospital and I want him to have something."

"Yeah I heard about how Naruto took down Sasuke. I was a bit surprised but a bit happy. Sasuke had become too dangerous." Ino said walking to another shelf and taking out orange flowers, "I visited him with Shikamaru. He seemed a bit down. I asked him why, but he didn't tell me. I just say he is upset due to killing his friend."

'Damn is he still upset?' she thought, "Oh thanks for the update Ino." Sakura said turning towards the flowers, "What kind of flowers are those?"

"They're a type of orange rose. Don't ask me for all the details on them. All I know is they're orange and they look nice. I think they're called Pernetiana roses." Ino said, "Take them for free if you want. Tell Naruto to get well and say it was from me."

"I know." Sakura said, "But I can't take these for free."

"If you insist just pay me half."

"Thanks Ino." Sakura said as she paid the blonde the half price for the flowers

"Anytime Sakura."

All Sakura needed to do is just to the hospital and try and make Naruto feel better. First though she needed to see Tsunade.

_**Naruto **_

Somewhere in the sound village a man was lying down on a small bed. Others around him were too. They were tied down and unable to move as the man wearing the Akatsuki robe walked around injecting them with something.

"Ok so you will receive serum A", he mumbled taking out the syringe

"Why are you doing this?" the man asked as the shot was injected into him

"Research is necessary and the Sound village is filled with lab rats", Tadao said smiling, "I should have really thanked Orochimaru for leaving many fine test subjects."

The Akatsuki member quickly scribbled something down and walked over to a microscope. He took some chemical and placed it on the small sample of the liquid substance. The strange substance was green with strange red dots all inside it. Tadao placed his eye to the microscope and smiled. He had found what he was looking for.

"It's a special poison that acts like a virus. It appears to multiply itself yet it doesn't resemble a virus at all", he mumbled, "Now that I know what poison class it is, I can break it down and use it as my weapon. This is starting to get interesting."

_**Naruto**_

Tsunade sat at her desk sipping a cup of tea. Shizune had completed all of her paperwork only for her to get another headache. Naruto's talk with her hadn't been a pleasing talk. He was much more hurt by the whole ordeal than she thought, and Kakashi hadn't told her everything. Then Sakura didn't come to talk to her yesterday which was probably for the best. She wasn't exactly happy with her student. Then there was a sudden knock on the door.

"Come in." Tsunade said a bit irritated

The pink haired kunoichi walked in holding the orange flowers. Tsunade realized that she was here for her talk.

"Tsunade-sama you probably know what I'm here for." Sakura said with a half smile plastered on her face

"Take a seat Sakura." Tsunade said pointing at one of the chairs facing Tsunade

Sakura nodded and took a seat placing the flowers in her lap. She looked up at her mentor waiting for her to start the conversation.

"Where should I begin?" Tsunade muttered, "I had a talk with Naruto yesterday night. While he is feeling extremely guilty about killing Sasuke, he is very hurt about what you said to him. I'm sure you probably know this by now."

"I know he is but what should I do? He's my closest friend and I want him to forgive me and understand how sorry I am. I'm just afraid about seeing him. I don't want him to be angry." Sakura replied looking down at the floor

"Sakura you're a smart girl. You know Naruto better than both of us. I'm confident that everything will be fine. Jiraiya and I always seemed to get into these problems. My problem though was I didn't apologize. I hurt him multiple times sometimes as bad as this. He never stopped though, with his feelings for me." Tsunade said, "I'm sure Naruto will be the same way. Anyway Naruto and Jiraiya are somewhat alike. Just go and apologize with all your heart. Don't be afraid or you may regret it one day."

"I'm scared though Tsunade-sama, what if he's angry and doesn't want to listen to my apology?"

"He's not angry Sakura. He's just hurt and badly. He may ignore you because of the hurt he's feeling. Just wait and time will heal everything, but as I said before, don't be afraid to show him how much you care about him."

"Thanks Tsunade-sama." Sakura said getting up and bowing, "I'm on my way to visit him right now."

"Remember not to let Naruto get away from you. We all know you have feelings for him. Good luck Sakura." Tsunade said smiling

Sakura left the room leaving Tsunade who had a somewhat bad feeling. The way Naruto sounded last night may not be good for Sakura. He wasn't angry he was just broken. First he killed his best friend and then yelled at by the person he loves. Tsunade took a deep breath. It wasn't going to be a good day no matter how the weather was outside.

_**Naruto**_

Madara sat across from Kisame and Zetsu at a large table. Madara seemed to be very calm regarding that he just lost Sasuke. It didn't matter Madara had planned this all out. Something was bothering him though about the way Kisame looked.

"Madara-sama can we trust those two?" Kisame asked breaking the silence

"Tadao and Masuyo? I think we can. They are both honored ninja in their villages." Madara said, "Anyway they are both related as brother and sister."

"Why do they have two different headbands then?"

"**They were separated before they were old enough to become ninja"**, Zetsu said, "They reunited after some time and moved to the sound. Then we came and they joined the Akatsuki."

"I still don't think we can trust them." Kisame said, "How did they get split up in the first place?"

"During the Third Great Ninja war everything was in chaos. They were born into a poor family who would do anything for money. Finally at one point in their lives they were captured by enemy ninjas. They were sold to different people and were split up." Madara said, "They reunited three years later when they were twelve. They had become ninja for the lands they worked in because the lands needed more ninja. The war may have subsided but the lands and villages were very weak."

"So what was the point of joining the sound and then the Akatsuki?"

"They became hired mercenaries. During the Sound Sand invasion the sound hired the two. Even though they barely had roles they still fought.", Madara said, "The two then went to the sound village to live. Then we came along and they interested me. Tadao being apart of the village hidden in the grass has an obsession with poison and viruses. He also specializes in medical ninjutsu. Masuyo went to the village hidden in the mist, and learned a strange water ninjutsu. She has the strange ability to use water vapor in the air to create attacks. She also has the ability to freeze the water as a weapon."

"Good way to pass the time." Kisame mumbled, "So they are going to capture the nine-tails? Do you think they will have the ability to?"

"I have confidence in their abilities." Madara said getting up, "Pain was strong, but Tadao and Masuyo are different. They don't have the same sort of ties with the Kyubi. Pain and the Kyubi were both students under the same master. Tadao and Masuyo don't have those ties."

"I see."

"I'll be going now. Tadao said he found something that might help us." Madara said leaving then room, "I'm a little interested myself. He doesn't get excited like this unless it is powerful."

Madara left with Kisame and Zetsu sitting alone in the large dark room.

_**Naruto **_

Sakura slowly made her way through the long corridor. Many nurses and others walked by her as she looked for the room number. She was starting to get the strange feeling she got when she was taking the tests for the chunnin exam. It was a strange feeling which made her feel uneasy. As she walked down the hallway she started questioning herself about if she could do this. She looked for his room number and stopped when she heard the familiar voices of her sensei and Naruto. She walked slightly faster and made a turn facing into the room where her teammate and friend stayed.

"Hey Sakura." Kakashi said giving her a happy glance

"Hey Kakashi-sensei." she said slightly smiling looking at Naruto. He was all bandaged up and had a strange look in his eye she had never seen before, "Hey Naruto, how are you feeling?"

"I'm good Sakura." he said sort of turning away, "How are you?"

'He didn't call me Sakura-chan. Maybe he just forgot I mean he doesn't always use the –chan suffix', she thought to herself, "I'm good Naruto glad to see you're fine."

He nodded and Kakashi sensed the uneasiness, "Ok you guys I'm off. I'm glad to see you're ok Naruto."

"Thanks Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said seeming to change his mood completely, "I'll be out and about very soon!"

Kakashi seemed to give a smile from under his mask and walked out of the room patting Sakura on the back. Sakura wanted to scream at him for leaving her alone, but knew it was for the best.

"So anyway Naruto I got you these." Sakura said putting on the best smile she could, "I hope you like them. Ino said she hoped you get better." Sakura placed the flowers on the nightstand next to Naruto's bed

"Thanks Sakura they're really nice." he said

"Naruto I'm really sorry." she blurted out suddenly sort of catching herself and Naruto off guard, "I don't know what I was saying back then I just wanted to apologize."

"Sakura don't worry its fine." he said trying to smile, "It doesn't matter you were upset."

"It is obvious everything isn't alright Naruto." Sakura replied slightly louder, "Please don't lie to me! You seem really upset, and I want to help you even if I may be the cause. I want everything to be fine and you to call me Sakura-chan again. Please Naruto, I'm sorry."

"Sakura I really don't know what to say." he said, "I still like you very much as a friend. I just don't understand how you could say something like that. I know I'm not perfect, but I try my best to make you happy. I never wanted to kill him!" Naruto started to get slightly louder, "He was one of my best friends. I have feelings too, Sakura."

"I know you have feelings too, Naruto. I really do know." Sakura replied feeling a pained feeling in her heart, "I want to be there for you. We are both going through a hard time. I think it would be good if we could be there for each other. Please just one more chance Naruto. I promise that I won't mess it up."

"Sakura", he said looking down, "I want to give you another chance, but it just hurts every time I have to give you another chance. Everyone has their limits Sakura and there is no exception for me. I try putting up with everything you throw at me. I get past one problem and you hit me with another. If you really knew I have feelings then why don't you take them into consideration?"

"Naruto I try all the time to put your feelings into consideration. I don't know why I keep hurting you. I don't want to hurt you. I-I don't know why, I just don't know why." she said holding in some tears which stung at her eyes, "I just want to take everything back. I know simple apologies won't help to stop what you are feeling. I really wish words are powerful enough to cure whatever pain I'm making you feel. I just want you to know I'm sorry."

"Sakura I'll be fine. I just need some time." Naruto said a bit sadly

Sakura nodded with a solemn expression on her face. Before Naruto could continue she walked out of the hospital room. Tears that threatened to fall fell.

'Was I just expecting him to just forgive me?' she asked herself, "At least he doesn't hate me. I just don't want some time to turn into years.'

She walked down the hospital hallway. Maybe she would give it another try. Maybe after a few days.

_**Naruto **_

Madara stood next to Tadao and Masuyo in the large medical facility. Tadao had one of those happy, amazed and excited looks. He had accomplished his goal. Madara looked down at the person he stood over wondering what was so amazing.

"Madara-sama I injected this man with serum class A, three hours ago. It takes one hour for the toxins to begin killing its victim. So far there had been no health problems." Tadao said smiling

"What does this mean?" Madara asked

"I took blood samples of the person's blood and placed the toxin in it. The blood seems to be able to fight the toxin away. I can make a less toxic version of this and use it on the Kyubi brat. It will affect the nine-tails as it would anybody, but it won't kill as fast. From more analysis I would be guessing it takes five days to kill its victim. We'd be able to extract the Kyubi without the host dying! This should keep the kid unable to fight back making this ten times easier."

"Then we should leave as soon as possible." Masuyo said, "The capture should go easily then."

"You will leave here in about three days so prepare." Madara said, "Good luck."

They both nodded and bowed as Madara left the room. They had a lot of preparing to get done. Soon they would leave on one of there most important missions.

**Well that is how I'm wrapping up chapter 3. Tell me what you think. I'm hoping the first Naruto/Sakura encounter was good. You could tell me what you think. Thanks. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks very much for continuing the read. Two really quick notes: read the bottom note at the end after finishing this chapter. Second quick note: this story will be shorter than my other but I'm hoping it will be as good if not better. Thanks once again! **

**Chapter 4: **

_**Two Days Later **_

Naruto walked out of the hospital. He had recovered from his battle, and was ready to start training again. Tsunade had dropped him off a new pair of clothes so he wouldn't have to leave in a hospital gown. He had to admit he was happy to be wearing orange and black again.

"Naruto."

Naruto turned to see Shikamaru walking over towards him, "Hey Shikamaru what are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to talk to you. Ino commanded that I did. Troublesome don't you think? Well anyway Ino wanted me to put it very clear that she wants you and Sakura to meet up, and talk a bit. She said Sakura isn't doing to well."

"I haven't seen Sakura a lot. She visited once and then never came to visit again." Naruto replied and then he took a deep breath suddenly realizing what Shikamaru was going to ask him, "I'm not ready to see her again. Ino isn't going to boss me around into doing something I really don't feel like doing."

Naruto turned and started to walk away. Suddenly he felt like he couldn't move anymore. He turned to see Shikamaru finish a hand sign. He looked down to see his and Shikamaru's shadows were connected.

"What the hell Shikamaru?" Naruto asked unable to move

Shikamaru walked towards him. Naruto also was forced to walk. The two made eye contact.

"Naruto I know you don't want to. Just do this for your teammate. Ino said if you were resistant to give you these."

Shikamaru's jutsu stopped and he pulled out three coupons. Naruto recognized them immediately as three free meals from Ichiraku's.

"Will this be enough to get you to go and talk to Sakura?" Shikamaru asked, "I know this isn't what you want, but think about me as well. Ino will probably kill me if I don't do this. See how troublesome this whole thing is?"

"Fine." Naruto mumbled in defeat grabbing the three coupons

"Good, now I want you to go and find Sakura. Ino said she would have her out today. Just look." Shikamaru instructed

Naruto nodded and watched as Shikamaru walked away. Naruto jumped onto a rooftop. If he was going to talk to Sakura he would make it quick and simple.

_**Naruto**_

Sakura had gotten dressed for the day. Her mother was making her go to the market today. She didn't feel like going out. Her mother had left her alone in the house to go and talk to Ino's mom. It was about eleven in the morning. Suddenly the doorbell rang. Sakura quickly walked down to the door and looked through the peephole.

"Sakura are you in there?" Ino yelled, "You need to get out of the house!"

Sakura unlocked the door to let her best friend in. Ino though had other ideas. She grabbed Sakura's arm and pulled her outside.

"Ino what are you doing?" Sakura asked

"Come on forehead it is such a nice day out! Your mom and my mom were so boring I decided to get out of the house. Come on Sakura want to take a walk?" Ino asked

"What are you planning?" Sakura asked raising her eyebrow

"Nothing at all! Don't you want to hang out with your best friend?" Ino asked impatiently

"Fine, come with me to the market though. Mom wants me to pick up some things." Sakura said

Ino smiled widely. She grabbed Sakura's hand and pulled her through Konoha and towards the market.

_**Naruto **_

Tadao and Masuyo ran through the large forest. Masuyo still had her Akatsuki robe wrapped around her waist with a mist headband with a line through it. Tadao had many different scrolls along with his grass headband with a line through it. The two had left yesterday since it took about one day to reach the leaf from the sound. They were about a couple miles away from their target so they decided it was best to stop.

"Place the paper bombs here." Masuyo said, "We'll make them think they are under attack."

"So how will that draw out the nine-tails?" Tadao asked, "What if they send Anbu?"

"We kill them and infiltrate the village."

Tadao just gave out a long sigh and took out one of the scrolls. He formed a hand sign and took out a large amount of paper bombs. He quickly pinned them to at least fifty trees and was going to wait for Masuyo to tell him to detonate. They would rest up and begin tomorrow.

"So what info did you get on the nine-tails?" Tadao asked

"His name is Naruto Uzumaki, age sixteen and posses a large number of jutsu. He is on a team with Kakashi Hatake and Sakura Haruno. He appears to have close connections with his friends and is ready to protect any of them at any point in time with his life. We may be able to use that to our advantage." Masuyo said

"I have already been able to formulate a plan. Allow me to take on the Kyubi." Tadao said smiling, "I've always enjoyed hunting for wild animals."

Masuyo gave him a glare, "This isn't funny! This is a mission you fool! Stop with your damn puns and get a grip!"

Tadao smiled, "Never knew how uptight you are."

The next thing he knew he was crashing through many branches. Masuyo had a large smile on her face, "Serves him right"

_**Naruto**_

Tsunade sat at her desk with a tired expression on her face. Sakura had told her how everything went and she had a feeling it would happen like that. Kakashi stood across from her ready to tell her good news.

"Tsunade-sama I had a talk with Naruto after everything with Sakura." Kakashi said, "Though he isn't acting like it he seems to want to talk to her. I had a feeling he wouldn't be able to keep his feelings for her down for too long."

"I have a feeling it won't be Kakashi. Even though Sakura had a talk with me saying she wanted to change everything I doubt anything will." Tsunade said taking a deep breath, "Naruto is still probably upset with her. Something will slip that angers him or her. I just hope your feeling is the correct one."

"I hate to say but I have the same feeling." Kakashi mumbled, "I listened in to their conversation and Sakura tried to apologize. Naruto didn't seem to except it. I think now though he will."

"I hope your right." Tsunade mumbled, "Well anyway, I may need to send you and the rest of your team on a mission soon. I know it is so short notice but all other teams are out."

"What type of mission?"

"It appears our sensors have picked up enemies outside of the leaf. You will lead a few ninja along with Naruto and Sakura to capture them or spy on them. I'm still getting your team ready"

"Do you have any idea of the power of these intruders?" Kakashi asked, "If they are here secretly do you think they would want to be detected so easily? What if they want us to attack them?"

"All of this is being taken into consideration. I'm sure everything to be fine. Now I'll summon you when I have the mission details completely set up." Tsunade said

"Yes Tsunade-sama."

"You are dismissed." Tsunade said

Kakashi bowed and left the room. Tsunade took another deep breath wondering what Naruto and Sakura were doing.

_**Naruto**_

Naruto ran on top of the buildings of Konoha looking for Sakura in the large crowds. He knew that he should see her at one point. Maybe he was at her house or something. As he continued to run he saw a flash of pink. He smiled quickly and jumped from the rooftop and right in front of the girl. Sakura and Ino gasped as Naruto just appeared right in front of her. She just felt her heart skip a beat out of fear.

"Naruto, what the hell? You scared me." she said taking a deep breath and holding her chest, "I'm really glad to see you though."

"Same Sakura, I think we need to have a serious talk." he said taking hold of her hand, "Come on we can sit down right there."

"I guess I should be leaving then!" Ino said smiling, "I don't want to ruin any private moments."

Sakura shot Ino a glare, 'She planned this didn't she?'

Ino ran through the crowd and out of sight. Naruto and Sakura walked quickly over to the bench and sat down. They looked at each other with deep seriousness getting ready for their conversation. Sakura took a deep breath.

"Naruto what are you doing? I can sense you really don't want to do this. If you are still feeling uneasy please just go, and in time maybe we can have this talk." Sakura said calmly

"Sakura I'm not ready for a serious talk, but I want to try. Just before we start talking Ino and Shikamaru got me to do this." Naruto said, "I hope that doesn't make you feel uneasy."

"I already had a feeling." Sakura said, "Just go on."

"Sakura the more I think about it, I want, actually need this talk with you. I just want to confirm some things." Naruto said calmly

"Same goes for me Naruto. I need this talk as much as you do." Sakura said, "You can start."

"Thanks Sakura. I just want to ask you, why do you keep doing the things you do? Why do you keep hurting me?"

"I don't want to hurt you Naruto. I really don't want to hurt you. I truly want to do the good thing, but it comes out wrong. That confession was to try and stop that promise. I thought I was hurting you with the promise so I wanted to stop it. I only wound up hurting you more."

"So you're telling me that was just fake? The confession I mean."

"Yes and no but I'll explain that later." Sakura said quickly slightly blushing which Naruto noticed

"Another thing I want to ask you is why do you care about me?" Naruto asked, "I want to know if you just care about me because you found out about the Kyubi, or because you actually think of me as a friend."

"Why are you asking me something like that?" Sakura asked, "I care about you because you are my friend. You are my teammate and one of my irreplaceable friends. You always seem to be able to help me when I'm feeling hurt. I just wish I could be able to do that for you. I told Captain Yamato once that I can only do the small things for you. You can do so much for me though. Sometimes I feel jealous because of that."

"Sakura I only do those big things because you are one of my most precious people. You are so important to me. I never want that to change. It just gets hard sometimes Sakura." Naruto replied

"I never want me being one of your precious people to change either. I always want you to know that I would do anything for you. I just said that I hated you because I got really upset. Sasuke was just important to me. He was my first crush Naruto. I'm yours so you should know what would happen if I was killed. Wouldn't you hate the person who killed me?"

"I'd hate that person with every bone in my body. Why would you hate me though?"

"I was just so angry Naruto. Even though I knew there was no hope, somewhere in the bottom of my heart I thought Sasuke would come home. I had believed that you could do anything. I even thought you would be able to defy reality to bring Sasuke home. I didn't think of your humanity because to me you are so amazing and invincible." Sakura said getting a confused look from Naruto

"You think I'm amazing?" he asked

"I really and truly do. I'm not just saying this. I truly think you are the most amazing person I've ever met. Sometimes I wish you were my first crush and not Sasuke." Sakura replied, "I hope you believe me Naruto. I really do. I'm so sorry and I regret ever saying those words to you. Please Naruto just forgive me." Sakura pleaded grabbing one of his hands and holding it tight in hers

"Sakura I don't know what to say. Are you really being serious?" he asked a bit concerned

"I swear that I'm serious Naruto. I really like you a lot, and I'll prove to you that I am any way possible."

"I have an idea Sakura!" Naruto said standing up smiling, "If you want to repay me how about you come to Ichiraku's tonight with me? I'll pick you up at seven. How does that sound?"

"I think that sounds real nice. Thank you so much Naruto." she said smiling slightly, "You know what, I'll pay for it."

"No need Sakura!" Naruto said with his trademark grin. He pulled out the three free ramen coupons, "I got these coupons. Don't bring any money."

"Oh one more thing, pick me up at the Hokage mansion ok? I'm sorry if that is inconvenient." Sakura said

"Don't worry Sakura that will be fine."

The two stood up and smiled at each other. Just as Naruto was about to leave, he felt a pair of arms wrap around him. He was pulled into a tight embrace from Sakura.

"Thank you Naruto, thank you so much for giving me another chance. I'm so sorry Naruto." Sakura whispered into his ear

"No worries Sakura. Just promise me you will look at me like a human being. I just don't want you to forget I have feelings." Naruto said placing his hands on her shoulders

"I promise Naruto." she said looking up at him, "I'll see you at seven then."

"I'll see you then. Thanks Sakura."

Sakura just smiled and the two parted ways. Sakura had to admit she was especially happy. She couldn't believe he had forgiven her. Maybe this was the start of something much bigger.

_**Naruto**_

"Wasn't that cute Shikamaru?" Ino asked from a nearby rooftop

"You women are all troublesome in my opinion." Shikamaru replied

"Thanks Shikamaru for helping me with this." Ino said giving Shikamaru a quick hug, "See ya later!"

Ino jumped off leaving Shikamaru slightly dazed, "Troublesome indeed."

_**Naruto **_

It was around six-forty-five at night as Sakura stood with her master. Naruto was going to pick her up from the Hokage mansion where Sakura was at seven. Sakura had gone to get help from her master so she could look nice for when Naruto took her out tonight. Tsunade was overjoyed when she heard how Naruto and Sakura had finally gotten past the whole problem they faced. Right now Tsunade stood outside of her office waiting for Sakura to call her back in so she could see how she looked.

"You can come in now Tsunade-sama!" Sakura yelled

Tsunade slowly walked in and looked at Sakura from head to toe. Saying she looked great would be an understatement. Her pink hair now reached her shoulders. She had pink dress on with lavender designs running across it. She also decided to wear a necklace with small pearls around it which she got for a birthday present one year. Though she was just going to Ichiraku's she wanted to look good for Naruto. Maybe she could try and prove how much she cares this way.

"Well Sakura I think he'll love it." Tsunade said smiling, "You sort of make me feel jealous right now."

"Thank god I was afraid that I may not look so good." she said taking a deep breath, "Now should I go and wait for Naruto? I mean he should be here in five minutes."

"Go Sakura and try and have a good time ok." Tsunade said, "Good luck."

Sakura walked down the stairs and towards the front door. She sat on a bench right outside the door and waited for her teammate.

_**Naruto **_

Naruto quickly ran through the streets of Konoha. The night air was cooled, but everyone was still out and about. He knew he had left too late and he only had about five minutes left. He now picked up the pace, hoping to at least be one minute late if at all late. He didn't wear anything amazing but it was nicer than his usual attire. He had a black shirt on with a small leaf village symbol in orange and wore a pair of regular blue jeans. He knew he didn't look amazing but he was hoping that Sakura would understand. As he approached the Hokage mansion he noticed the figure sitting on the bench. There eyes met and he walked over to her.

"You're late Naruto", she said

"I'm sorry Sakura I really am", he said noticing how good she looked. He started to feel bad that he didn't try harder with his outfit, "Did I mention how good you looked?"

"Thanks Naruto." Sakura said trying to hide her blush, "You look good yourself."

"Really? I mean thank you!" he quickly said now trying to hide his blush

There was an uneasy silence between them as they kept looking into each other's eyes. Then Naruto decided to break the silence.

"I guess we should get going." he said raising his arm out

She nodded and gripped his hand and he lifted her up from the bench. The two quickly smiled at each other and began to walk towards Ichiraku's. They both had an uneasy feeling as if something was wrong. They just prayed everything would finish up well tonight.

_**Naruto **_

Masuyo stood in front of the tree. She had drawn the symbol for water, Earth Ice and Wind on four trees widely spread apart from each other. Her brother currently was sleeping in a tent not far from her. She began to go through hand signs and bit her thumb. She smeared the blood across the symbol and formed some more hand signs. After she was finished she took a deep breath. Everything was ready for tomorrows attack. She turned to see what looked like a venus fly trap coming from the ground. Zetsu emerged and took a step towards her.

"I see you've gotten that jutsu ready," Zetsu said smiling, "You really want to catch this kid don't you?"

"This jutsu is perfectly fine." Masuyo said calmly, "I've just recently joined your organization so I'm going to prove myself."

"While you distract them I'll get the Uchiha's corpse." Zetsu mumbled, "It is still in the hospital's autopsy room."

"Good luck with that"

"Don't worry we have all confidence in your capture." Zetsu said smiling, "We've gotta go."

Zetsu disappeared leaving Masuyo alone in the woods. They had left the area with the paper bombs which would be used as the distraction. Everything was going according to plan.

_**Naruto **_

Naruto and Sakura sat next to each other on the small chairs at Ichiraku's. Nobody else seemed to be there except for them which sort of was nice. They could talk alone without having anyone hearing them.

"Naruto, where have you been? My business is just not the same without you here." the ramen chef said smiling, "Well anyway what can I get you two?"

"I guess I'll have the miso-ramen, and Sakura what will you have?"

"I'll have the vegetarian ramen please." she said

He nodded and left to make the orders. The two teens faced each other once again with a lot of seriousness.

"Sakura I'm very happy right now. First though I need to make up everything to you." Naruto said completely sincere and shocking Sakura, "I'm really sorry, and if I could take it back I would've never killed Sasuke."

"Naruto don't apologize, you have nothing to apologize about. It's ok Naruto, we all knew that Konoha would never accept him back." she said sadly, "I should've known my little fantasy with him wasn't going to work out. I gave up on it though a long time ago."

"I'm sorry Sakura I really am." he said looking guilty

"Naruto you don't have to be sorry." she said, "You're still alive and that is all that matters."

"Really?" he asked

"Of course silly; you've always been right here next to me through my ninja career. I was just too blind to see it." she said smiling, "Anyway I always knew Sasuke would never take me if he came back. He never really cared about me."

Naruto realized it wasn't a happy smile it was a sad smile. Then it hit him; she really loved Sasuke no matter what. That meant no matter what he would just be her second choice. That hurt him knowing that his love seemed just to look at him like nothing but second when he held her so high up. He put on the best smile he could just to cover up that thought.

"Your meals are ready." Teuchi said smiling, "Eat up."

The two teens began to eat their meals. Sakura was surprised that Naruto wasn't going as fast as he usually did. Was there something wrong that he was trying to hide? She dismissed the thought and went back to eating.

"Sakura did you hear anything about a mission or something?" he asked, "Kakashi-sensei told me there was a possibility of a mission."

"That's a bit surprising after you being in the hospital so long." Sakura responded

"I can't wait for a mission though! I know we are in the middle of this war, but still a mission is always nice to have once in awhile." Naruto said, "Kakashi-sensei didn't really tell me what it was about though."

"It doesn't matter as long as it is quick and easy." Sakura said taking a deep breath, "Naruto I was wondering, afterwards do you want to just take a quick walk I need to ask you something?"

"That's fine." Naruto said a bit worried, 'What = is she going to ask me?' he thought slightly nervous

She smiled and the two finished there bowls of ramen silently. The two would take quick glances at each other wondering what each other was thinking. They just kept hoping everything would be fine.

Naruto finished his tenth bowl while Sakura sat there smiling. She was still very impressed by Naruto's ability to eat so many bowls.

"I'm stuffed." Naruto said, "Thanks old man!"

"Anytime Naruto." he said handing him the bill, "Good luck." the man said winking and nodding towards Sakura

Naruto turned many shades of red and took a deep breath. He handed the ramen chef the free coupons and some money for the extra bowls, and walked out with Sakura. The two quickly looked at each other with mixed emotions.

"So Sakura what did you want to ask me?" Naruto asked a bit worried

"Well Naruto come with me and I'll show you something." she said gripping his hand and pulling him

They walked very far before arriving where Sakura wanted them to be. It was a park bench underneath a large tree. It grew pink flowers and lightning bugs flew around it. They both sat down and stared at each other.

"It's so nice Sakura." he said looking up at it, "So why did you bring me here?"

"I need to ask you something Naruto." she said very seriously, "I was just wondering if you wanted to be more than friends? Maybe you know we could start going out as a couple?"

Naruto gulped which worried Sakura. It wasn't like he didn't want to be her boyfriend; it was just he felt odd about being her boyfriend. It was a weird feeling he couldn't even explain. He felt that Sasuke was her first choice and since it was now completely impossible for them to be together then Naruto would be the next option.

"Sakura I don't know." he said sadly, "I really want to be, but I know I'm just your second choice and that Sasuke was your first."

"Naruto what are you talking about?" she asked

"You love Sasuke much more than me and only want me because you can't have him. I really want you to be my girlfriend but only if you truly love me." Naruto said, "Not because your first option is gone."

"Naruto I don't know what to say." she said a bit upset, "I really do love you. You aren't me second pick either you are my first, trust me."

"I don't understand though." Naruto said, "Why would you want to go out with me soon after Sasuke's death?"

"Naruto I'll prove myself to you so you can see how much I truly love you." Sakura said confidently, "Promise me that if I can do that then you will give me a chance."

"I promise Sakura." he said, "Then you have to promise me this. If I can really prove to you that I love you with all of my being, can you try to love me as much as you love Sasuke, please"

"Naruto I promise." she said inching closer to him on the bench, "I just want you to know I already do."

Naruto wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer to him. She rested her head on his shoulder and hoped he would realize how much she really loved him.

**I guess I'm happy I decided to let Naruto somewhat forgive Sakura. Maybe I did that too fast. Anyway this is pretty much the beginning, and there are many more chapters to come. Thanks for all reviews and I'm hoping to post the new chapter soon! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi everyone! Thanks for continuing with the read. The action should start to begin in this chapter. For the rest of the story it should have action in it. Hope you enjoy chapter five!**

**Chapter 5: **

Tadao and Masuyo sat down taking a bite of the bread they packed. It was somewhat early morning so their plan would begin shortly. It was a very bright day out and the birds were already out and chirping.

"You've placed the seals for your jutsu." Tadao said smiling, "You really are going all out princess."

"I would punch you right now but I need to save my energy. the woman responded shocking her brother, "Anyway my jutsu will make your jutsu look like child's play."

"You take that back! My jutsu will destroy them except for the nine-tails of course." Tadao said revealing many scrolls under his Akatsuki robe, "Just because I can't use ice and water release in battle doesn't mean I'm not useful. Plus if it wasn't for me you couldn't use ice that well. It was me who pretty much changed your entire DNA code so you could use that kekkei genkai. Give me some credit here!"

"I almost died just to remind you. Anyway that jutsu I'm going to use will allow me to use my ice techniques to there full extent. You're just upset that you will just be sitting on the side lines."

"I don't know how we are related."

Masuyo just took a deep breath. It was almost time to start the attack. The paper bombs would be used as the bait while they began their attack.

_**Naruto **_

Kakashi stood in front of Tsunade who was handing him the mission report. Kakashi just now had to get the team together before the mission began.

"You will leave the village at noon." Tsunade said giving him the basics of the mission, "Your team with consist of Neji Hyuga, Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, Tenten, Rock Lee, Shikamaru Nara and Shino Aburame. Your mission to put it in simpler terms is to scout the area to see if any enemies are hiding in the area. Either capture or kill them. If not engaged first don't engage. We don't want this to be messy."

"Understood Hokage-sama." Kakashi said, "I'll gather the team and we'll leave at noon."

Tsunade nodded and Kakashi disappeared inside a cloud of smoke.

_**Naruto**_

Sakura smiled as she woke up that morning. She made her way towards her bathroom and got undressed. She stepped inside the shower allowing the warm water to touch her somewhat cold skin. She took a deep breath as she thought about the night before. It ended very well in her mind. The two both continued to talk more about their feelings. Naruto explained how hurt he was about killing the Uchiha and she listened. The two both continued their talk, and got some feelings off their chests. It ended with Naruto walking her home telling her that he would see her tomorrow and that everything was going to be fine. Sakura finished up her shower and got out quickly drying off and getting on her casual clothes.

'I'll get some breakfast, and then I'll leave to see Tsunade-sama.' she thought as she heard a knock on door, 'Who could that be?'

She opened the door to see her sensei standing in front of her. He was reading his usual book and didn't even notice she was there.

"Kakashi-sensei." she said alerting him to her standing there

"Oh Sakura, I'm sorry I got caught up in this book." he said shutting it, "I'm here to tell you that Tsunade-sama has requested that you and I along with a few others go on a mission today. It is a C rank mission because we are just scouting for a possibility of enemies. We leave at noon so get ready and meet us at the front gates."

"Understood Kakashi-sensei." she said, "See you then."

She shut the door and took a deep breath, 'I can't believe we're being assigned a mission today. I thought I could finally relax.'

She took another deep breath and went to get into her combat clothes.

_**Naruto**_

Naruto was lying in his bed still asleep and snoring. His blanket was on the floor and his pillow was covered in drool. That is how Kakashi found him as he emerged in the windowsill.

"Hey Naruto." he said shaking the blond teen, "Get up."

Naruto rolled back and forth and his eyes slowly opened. He looked to see Kakashi and for a second he thought he was just seeing things. He rubbed his eyes and blinked a couple of times before realizing Kakashi was indeed sitting on his windowsill looking at him.

"What the heck are you doing Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto yelled, "Who told you that you could sit there?"

"Naruto calm down I'm here to tell you about a mission we have to go on today." Kakashi said, "We leave at noon from the front gate so get ready. I'm off to get the others."

"Oh ok Kakashi-sensei I'll see you at noon." Naruto said excited for the mission

"See you then Naruto."

Kakashi jumped from the windowsill and began to walk towards the next person's house. Naruto instantly shot up from bed and smiled. He wanted an actual mission for some time now. He ran to his drawer and looked for his orange and black jumpsuit. He went to his bathroom and got ready for the day ahead of him.

_**Naruto **_

Tadao stood with his sister on a large tree. It was almost time to begin. In half an hour they would explode the paper bombs and begin the operation. Tadao held the many scrolls in his hands while Masuyo gathered her chakra for her jutsu.

"**You two are ready, right?" **Zetsu asked emerging from behind them, "We just wanted to make sure you knew the plan. We will begin as soon as you can."

"The princess and I are ready Zetsu-san." Tadao said with a smirk on his face, "We shall draw them in very soon."

"We have intelligence that the leaf is sending a squad already to take out an unknown enemy. That would be you right?" Zetsu asked, "Make your move first."

"You are really annoying did you know that Zetsu." Masuyo said stunning the plant man and her brother, "We have everything under control so get the hell out of here."

Zetsu nodded knowing if they fought he would loose. He disappeared into the ground leaving the two siblings alone.

"Hey that wasn't nice nee-san! You know Zetsu is already so bipolar and mentally awkward! You don't have to ruin his feelings!" Tadao said, "You can be so mean sometimes princess."

He felt himself going through multiple trees as he said the last word. He looked up to see his sister with a death glare on her face. He smiled an innocent smile as she appeared right in front of him.

"I'm in no mood brother." she said angrily, "Now I want you to get away from all of the paper bombs and detonate them. Our mission begins now.

"We are starting slightly early. It is about eleven forty-five judging on how the sun is positioned." Tadao said pointing at the sun

"Oh so now you're an astronomer! Just begin the damn plan already!"

He nodded and the two jumped further away from the paper bombs. Tadao smiled and placed his hands together. He closed his eyes and waited for the explosion.

_**Naruto**_

Kakashi looked around the group of shinobi realizing they were all present. Even though it was earlier he thought that the earlier the better. He was going to show up pretty late but decided this was a more important mission.

"Ok so our mission will consist of us scouting for enemy ninja. We will use Neji's byakugan to scope the area. We are not to engage unless completely necessary." Kakashi said glaring at Naruto, "We will gather data and leave from there."

The team nodded and prepared to get going. As the group was about to leave the gates there was a sound like one hundred fire works going off at the same time. It continued for several minutes and was followed by screams of worry from the village. Smoke rose from the forest and birds in large numbers were flying away from the area.

"What the hell was that?" Tenten asked

"I don't know but we should get going." Kakashi said quickly and slightly worried

The team nodded and ran out of the village to the targeted area. They knew that they needed to reach the area soon enough so that they could stop the enemy.

"It didn't seem like a direct attack on the village so we should be safe." Kakashi said jumping from tree branch to tree branch, "I have a feeling that who ever did this is trying to draw us out."

They all nodded in agreement and continued to run towards the explosion.

_**Naruto **_

"I'm deaf!" Tadao yelled, "I can't hear anything!"

"My god shut up! I wish I was deaf too so I didn't have to hear you." Masuyo yelled back

"Gosh wasn't that a bit harsh"

"Hurry up we need to get back to the explosion to start the plan." Masuyo said running back towards the crater, "Remember that you need to protect me while I cast the jutsu."

"Which one?"

"Don't worry, not the one with the seals, yet. That will be for later and in a worse case scenario." Masuyo reassured

Tadao nodded and they jumped faster through the wooded area. He needed to reach the large crater and fast. There they would begin their plan.

_**Naruto **_

The team lead by Kakashi jumped quickly through the woods approaching the large crater. It was very dark around the area from the smoke.

"Ok I can see maybe two figures." Neji said with his byakugan activated, "I say we approach them slowly."

"I agree." Tenten said, "They may be the enemy of course."

Kakashi nodded and the group stopped on the side of the crater. They made their way down slowly and began to walk closer towards the two. Kakashi stepped a bit closer and raised a kunai. The smoke began to clear away from the two.

"If there are only two enemies Naruto, Sakura, Shikamaru and Tenten will take the one on the left; and Neji, Lee, Shino and I will take the one on the right, understand?"

"I thought we were just scouting." Tenten said a bit confused

"I just need to confirm something. After that we get out of here." Kakashi said, "Just knowing two figures won't do us much. I need to find out a tiny bit more."

"Understood Kakashi-sensei." Sakura said waiting a little more for the smoke to clear

The smoke began to rise, allowing the others to see well. Naruto and the group were slightly shocked at who was before them. Two Akatsuki members never placed on record were just standing there calmly. They both were smiling at the group.

"I'm guessing Naruto Uzumaki would be the one with the blond hair, blue eyes and stupid orange outfit." the male member said on the left

The other nodded and Naruto had an angered look on his face. Kakashi stepped in front of him.

"Who are you two?" Kakashi asked

"I'm Tadao and this is my sister better known as princess Masuyo." Tadao said smiling as his sister decked him over the head and started nagging about how he was always such an idiot

'These two seem different from normal Akatsuki members.' Kakashi thought, 'Something is slightly different. I just can't put my finger on it. They seem more human, if you could say that.'

"Ok get ready Tadao." Masuyo yelled forming hand signs

Tadao took out a smoke bomb and a scroll. He threw the smoke bomb on the ground. Smoke erupted making the two invisible.

"Senbon Rotation!"

Hundreds on Senbon erupted from the smoke all coming towards the group. They all jumped to the ground avoiding the attack. The Senbon kept coming though causing the others to wonder when it would end.

"Mystical Hammer of Ice!"

The Senbon stopped and the group looked up to see Masuyo coming down with a large ice hammer that could flatten all of them. Bugs came flying from Shino's sleeve and covered the group. Masuyo brought the hammer down smashing into the bugs. When she moved the hammer the group was gone.

"Got them."

She felt something odd though and ducked as a kunai went by her head. She looked up to see the group still alive and breathing.

"We aren't going to loose that easily." Naruto said with a confident smile

"We'll see about that." she said jumping behind her brother

"So is it time to do that?" he whispered

"Yes"

The two siblings jumped in the center of the crater. Masuyo began forming many hand signs while her brother took out another scroll and a paper bomb. Tenten took out her scroll and got ready.

"Ninja art: One thousand Senbon!"

Thousands of senbon instantly went flying towards the small group. Tenten unraveled the scroll and hundreds of kunai went flying towards the senbon. After several minutes of weapons flying it stopped. Shikamaru jumped into the air and threw five kunai into the smoke cloud. They heard the kunai hitting a target and aloud thump. The smoke cleared revealing Tadao on the ground with the kunai lodged in his chest.

"One down; one to go", Shikamaru said focusing his attention on Masuyo

"Underground", Neji said

"Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique!"

Kakashi was pulled underground and Tadao jumped up. Kakashi could only think how ironic this was. He had used the same technique on his ex-student during the bell test. Tadao did a flip in mid-air and landed next to his sister. Masuyo still was concentrating on her hand signs.

"Look I got the copy-nin! I think I'll end this now!" Tadao said smiling taking out a scroll

He placed his hand on the scroll and a large vile of poison emerged. He began to drink the poison surprising everyone. He wiped away a small amount of the poison from the side of his lip and smiled. He formed a couple hand signs and arched his back, backwards.

"We need to get Kakashi out of there." Neji said

"I'll lead an offensive on that other Akatsuki member." Lee said, "Kakashi-sensei will join us after Neji gets out of there."

Lee and Shino quickly began to run towards Masuyo who was forced to disrupt her hand signs. Lee with lightning quick speeds delivered several kicks. The female Akatsuki member quickly blocked all of them and flipped backwards. Shino sent a wave of his bugs towards her.

"Frozen Mist." she whispered

A large mist erupted from her mouth freezing Shino's bugs. Lee quickly ran up to her and punched her in the stomach. She did a couple flips backwards and stopped.

"I've had enough of this." she mumbled, "I really need to do my jutsu."

Lee was in front of her in a second and delivered another kick. She dodged and grabbed his foot. After a quick flip she delivered the strongest punch she could into his stomach. Lee flew a couple yards and blood fell from the side of his mouth.

"I've had enough." Masuyo yelled forming hand signs, "Summoning Jutsu!"

In front of her was a large mirror made of ice. Shino sent his bugs towards it but they were deflected instantly.

"That mirror happens to be a reflecting ice mirror." Masuyo said confidently, "Now I can begin my jutsu in peace."

She walked back to the center of the crater and formed more hand signs. She had to get the jutsu right or it may end badly for her and her partner.

Kakashi had been pulled out, but Tadao had begun his attack. He formed one more hand sign and arched forward sending a poison gas towards his enemies. They jumped back away from poison gas.

'Just what I was hoping for.' Tadao thought taking out a blue poison, 'This should take care of that byakugan.'

Tadao threw a smoke bomb over the poison which erupted around the small group. He dipped the strange liquid in a senbon. He leapt into the gas cloud and formed a hand sign.

"Now I have you." Neji mumbled launching his palm towards his enemy

Neji's palm slammed into the chest of his enemy. Neji smiled but realized something. It was just a clone of his enemy. There was a poof and Neji felt something inserted into his back. The smoke cleared and Tadao jumped away from Naruto, Kakashi, Sakura, Shikamaru, Neji and Tenten.

"He got me with something from my blind spot." Neji said taking out the senbon

"That should blur your vision for awhile." Tadao said, "I've studied the byakugan and found out something to decrease its ability."

"This isn't good." Kakashi mumbled, "This guy seems to be pretty good with poison."

"We can handle him Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said taking out a kunai

"I think we should split up now." Tenten said looking over towards Lee and Shino, "They need your help."

"You're right." Kakashi mumbled "Ok Neji come with me while Shikamaru, Naruto, Sakura and Tenten handle this creep."

Kakashi began to run towards Shino and Lee along with Neji. Neji was having a hard time using his byakugan due to the poison. As they ran off Tadao faced the others and smiled. It had been a long time since he faced strong opponents. Plus the nine-tails was in the group which was pretty big. Then he noticed something that made him hold back laughter.

"What is with that pink hair?" he asked pointing at Sakura, "I have never seen pink hair in my life! Wow. I wonder what type of genetics did that!"

Everyone began to feel Sakura's killer intent and they back off. Tadao smiled as Sakura formed hand signs revealing chakra scalpels.

"I'm going to kill you for insulting my hair!" she yelled running towards him with the chakra scalpels

"I don't think so." he mumbled forming his own hand signs

Chakra scalpels formed on his hands and he ran towards Sakura. Sakura quickly tried to slice at him but missed. She continued but he continued to dodge nonstop. He finally got the opening and sliced into her side. He kicked her in the stomach and threw her to the ground. Tenten grabbed a scroll and launched a large amount of kunai at him. He dodged and ran towards Tenten. Shikamaru formed hand signs and captured him with his shadow. Sakura slowly got up blood trickling from the side of her mouth. Naruto ran towards her a bit worried.

"Are you ok Sakura?" he asked

"I'm fine." she responded

Tadao smiled as the shadow rose in the shape of a needle. It was quickly stabbed through him. The clone suddenly melted into a slime like substance.

"This guy is so annoying." Shikamaru said

"I know right?" Tadao said jumping from a tree throwing a senbon with a red colored liquid on it

Shikamaru turned and felt the senbon imbed itself into his shoulder. He cursed while Tenten threw five kunai at Tadao. Tadao jumped to another tree and vanished.

"We need to take him out before he continues to attack us like that." Shikamaru said pulling the senbon out

"He may be a medic of some type because he knows the chakra scalpel." Sakura said

"Ok so I have a plan", Tenten whispered, "I'll throw hundreds of weapons into the forest to draw him out. When he comes out Naruto and Sakura will take him out with any jutsu. Shikamaru I'm worried about that injury since it had that strange liquid. You stay back."

They all nodded and Tenten took out a scroll and formed hand signs. Instantly hundreds of weapons were in front of her. She raised her hand and they all went forward into the forest. The weapons slammed into trees, animals and any other thing inside the forest.

"Up there!" Tenten yelled pointing at the figure in the sky

"Gotcha!" Naruto yelled creating a shadow clone

He formed a rasengan and the shadow clone grabbed him and launched him into the air. Tadao quickly formed a couple hand signs. He let poison drip from a vile he had. Naruto had reached Tadao and sent the rasengan towards his chest. As he neared the Akatsuki member's chest something grabbed his arm rendering him unable to deliver the blow.

"What the!" Naruto looked down to see the poison had formed the shape of a human

Naruto felt himself began to fall back down to the Earth as the poison clone fell. The real Tadao grabbed Naruto's shoulders and lifted himself up higher into the air. He leapt off of Naruto's shoulders and delivered a strong kick on top of the blonde's head. Naruto began to fall head first towards the ground. The group on the ground began to get worried and angry. Finally the two people reached the ground. Naruto slammed into the ground and Tadao landed his knee into Naruto's stomach. There was a loud crack and Naruto spit blood out from his mouth. Tenten launched kunai towards the man causing him to jump away from the blond.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled running towards her comrade

"Bubblegum head is coming to save her teammate how cute!" Tadao yelled as Tenten ran at him delivering a series of kicks

Emerald chakra covered Sakura's hand and she began to heal her teammate. She had to admit she was worried about Naruto. That Akatsuki member had really done some heavy attacks to him.

"Hey Sakura I'm fine you should be careful yourself." he said smiling, "I'll be fine now heal yourself and Shikamaru, they need it more than me."

"Naruto you worried me for a second, be careful." Sakura responded

Naruto sat up and slowly got up. Sakura got up with him and they go ready to begin their attacks.

_**Naruto **_

Kakashi and his team weren't having any luck with this strange woman. She couldn't be touched as long as her summoning was there. It was bad because her hidden jutsu was almost done. They still didn't have any idea what it could be. Neji was still having a problem with his vision. Whatever poison it was, it had damaged his byakugan.

"Lee are you sure you can't get past that jutsu?" Kakashi asked

"I can not." Lee said sadly, "But we can still win as long as we believe."

Kakashi watched as the Akatsuki member placed her hands on the ground. She looked up and smiled at the group.

"My jutsu is ready." she said, "I wouldn't like you guys to get away."

"What is she talking about?" Neji asked

They felt a strange feeling cross through their bodies, which subsided quickly. Masuyo smiled a bit more and her jutsu began.

**So this was a pretty long chapter. Thanks a lot for reviewing! I'm hoping you are enjoying this story so far. Tell me if you think I'm going to fast. I'm not sure myself, and think it would be good to know from my viewers! Thanks a lot! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 is up and should have much more action. Fighting will continue for most of the chapter. Thanks very much for the reviews so far! Well I hope you enjoy. **

**Chapter 6 **

Masuyo smiled as she finished up her final hand sign. Her jutsu would be ready which would probably give her brother and herself the advantage. The jutsu should be able to keep outside interference impossible.

"Water Style: Water Vapor Barrier!"

Instantly she raised her mouth and a large amount of water vapor went flying out. It went deep into the forest covering the crater, a large part of the forest including the trees with the markings and it was in the shape of a dome. Kakashi in some ways felt relieved it wasn't attack but realized they couldn't escape.

"Ok then shall we begin?" Masuyo asked as her ice mirror vanished, "That jutsu took too much chakra. Now how shall I begin?"

Lee ran towards her as quick as he could delivering several kicks. She easily avoided all of them and formed a quick hand sign. She ran towards Lee and grabbed him by his neck. She took in a deep breath and then released it, sending out any icy wind. Lee's head froze almost instantly. The taijutsu user fell to the ground unable to breath.

"Shino you cause a distraction while I get Lee." Kakashi whispered

Shino nodded and raised his arms. Instantly hundreds of bugs went flying towards Masuyo.

"Nice try!" she yelled, "Icy Wind!"

She raised her arms and moved them to the side causing a large gust of wind. The wind seemed to freeze the bugs on contact. Kakashi though had already snuck up by Lee, and had used fire style to melt away the ice.

"Ok here's the plan." Kakashi said jumping back to the group with Lee, "We're going to have to attack her head on with everything we've got. I'll sneak under ground and take her out from there."

"Gotcha Kakashi-sensei." Lee said getting in a ready stance

Masuyo watched with interest as Kakashi raised a smoke bomb and threw it on the ground. She had a feeling what was coming and quickly formed some hand signs. She opened her mouth sending water around her. She formed another hand sign and a couple water clones formed. Lee, Neji and a few of Shino's bugs came charging towards her.

"Water Senbon!" Masuyo and her clones yelled

Multiple water senbon went flying towards the group charging at her. Neji jumped in front and raised his palm.

"Eight Trigrams: Heavenly Spin!"

The water senbon were reflected away. Lee jumped over Neji and ran towards Masuyo. The clones instantly blocked any attacks. Masuyo herself quickly formed a few hand signs and launched a wave of ice towards Lee. Lee jumped away but Shino's bugs were caught and frozen solid.

"The infamous copy ninja seems to be hiding underground." Masuyo said smiling, "Water Release: Multi Geyser Explosion!"

The water underground began to release itself by breaking through the Earth's crust. Lee, Shino and Neji jumped back as water exploded in a strong pressurized form.

Kakashi felt himself being pushed to the surface of the Earth. He felt his body being forcibly pushed through the Earth and into the sky. Masuyo licked her lips and jumped on top of the water spout. She went flying in the air along with Kakashi but she had a plan. She quickly formed a sword with the water and raised it above Kakashi's chest. She stabbed through him and felt something strangely odd. The Kakashi before her reverted into electricity.

"Oh no!" she yelled

The lightning traveled up the water sword and electrocuted her. Masuyo then exploded into water revealing a water clone. The lightning though, then went down the water spout and hit into the pool of water where she and her clones were. The clones exploded leaving the real one electrocuted and in pain.

Kakashi emerged from another area in the ground. He was bleeding though and part of his mask was ripped revealing a slight part of his face. Masuyo took a deep breath and realized she had a low amount of chakra. She would need to give herself some time for her true special jutsu.

"I'll admit you guys are good, yet I still have a few tricks up my sleeve." she said forming hand signs, "Water Release: Great Salt Water Ocean!"

Out of no where the ground began to erupt with large amounts of salt water. The crater began to fill with the water. Tadao and the other group jumped onto the forest area where the water hadn't reached. The forest was going to be the new battleground for them. Masuyo and the group she versed were all standing on the water. Kakashi could tell how tired she was. The problem was he was too and the others barely had the ability to lay a jutsu on her.

"I'm not finished yet!" she yelled, "Summoning Jutsu: Legendary Great White!"

Kakashi and the others looked on in horror as a giant great white shark emerged under the water. The teeth on it were huge and it was much bigger than any average great white. It had many scars on its body and deep black eyes. It swam to the surface and swam around Masuyo.

"You're telling me the great Masuyo was forced to summon me?" it said smiling, "And against these punks? You should be insulted. Kisame and you both only summon me just in case. This must be good.""

"Oh shut up and deal with them while I prepare that jutsu." she said mysteriously

The shark nodded and swam under water. Masuyo nodded and ran towards a certain area of the forest. Kakashi had another bad feeling, but was forced to snap back into reality as the shark emerged from the water and tried to swallow him whole.

"You three go after that Akatsuki freak while I deal with this creature." Kakashi said

"This creature?" the shark yelled emerging from the water, "I'm not just some creature! Water dome jutsu!"

The shark swam around the edges of the crater at lightning fast speeds. The water began to rise further into the air. When it stopped the water formed a perfect dome around the water filled crater. Kakashi narrowed his eyes realizing they needed to fight this thing.

_**Naruto**_

Shikamaru, Tenten, Naruto and Sakura stood together facing their enemy. They were now in the forest and couldn't get inside the crater. The water dome would shout multiple senbon if they approached.

"Well it appears I'll have the honor of catching the nine-tails." Tadao said pointing at Naruto, "Let me just kill the others before I leave with my prize."

The next thing he knew Naruto was in front of him bringing back his fist. Tadao raised his hands in defense but the strength of the punch sent him flying into a tree. Tenten wasted now time and grabbed a scroll. She grabbed three large shuriken and launched them towards the tree Tadao was up against. Tadao went to jump to the right but couldn't. He looked up to see Shikamaru smiling.

"You're finished." Shikamaru said, "As long as you're trapped by my jutsu."

"Maybe, maybe not." Tadao responded using all his will power to form a hand sign

Shikamaru felt a strange feeling of pain surge through his body. His jutsu immediately failed, and Tadao jumped to the right. He avoided the large shuriken except for one that pierced into his arm. Tadao quickly removed it, and then raised his hand and placed it on the wound. Emerald chakra covered his hand, and the wound slowly disappeared.

"So you're a medic too." Sakura said

"How did you undo my shadow possession jutsu?" Shikamaru asked angrily still in pain

"Remember earlier in our battle, when I hit you with that poison?" Tadao asked as Shikamaru nodded, "Well that was a special poison I designed myself. It is used to disrupt chakra and will stop working after awhile. As long as that poison travels in your body I can activate it to disperse any jutsu you use. If I just put my hands together your jutsu will fail. My chakra is sent around an area which signals and activates the poison, to put it in simpler terms"

"I've never heard of that type of poison. Tsunade-sama has never mentioned it our allowed me to study it." Sakura said a little surprised

"I'm pretty sure that I'm the only one who can use this poison." Tadao responded smiling, "Don't worry though the poison will start to fail later and then I'll just hit you with another dose of it. Your body won't or shouldn't form immunity to it."

"Enough talk, I'm going to end this." Naruto said clenching his fists

Tadao smiled as the blond ran towards him delivering several punches. Tadao easily dodged most of them, but was surprised when a fist connected with his jaw. He moved back a little to see Sakura getting her fist ready. She punched the ground as hard as she could, causing the entire surface to crack. Tadao jumped up only to have a massive amount of shuriken thrown at him. He grabbed a scroll and raised it in front of him. Senbon shot out hitting into the shuriken causing the ground to be littered with weapons. When Tadao landed he was immediately attacked by Sakura and Naruto once again. Quickly he jumped onto a tree to try and take a breath. He was about to jump when he felt a strange feeling overtake him. Once again Shikamaru had used his shadow possession jutsu to take over his movements.

"Tenten, Sakura I'm going to try to go into sage mode. If he breaks free from Shikamaru's jutsu can you cover me?" Naruto asked

"Don't worry Naruto." Sakura said as Tenten nodded

Naruto sat down and began to bring in natural energy. He knew he needed to use this form to make the battle go quicker and easier for all of them.

Tadao watched a bit worried as a hand made from the shadows went towards his neck. He knew he would need to form that hand sign to activate the poison again. Then he would make sure this didn't happen again. He turned his attention to Naruto who had begun to gather natural energy.

'This isn't good.' he thought forming the hand sign

Shikamaru winced in pain as his jutsu once again failed. Tadao instantly grabbed two scrolls and formed some hand signs.

"Ninja Art: Senbon Storm!"

Instantly the scrolls unraveled sending thousands of senbon towards Shikamaru, Tenten, Sakura and Naruto. Tenten quickly grabbed three scrolls and undid them. She launched thousands of shuriken from the scrolls hitting away the senbon that came towards them. Shikamaru had jumped behind a tree to take cover.

"I'm not finished yet!" Tadao yelled forming another hand sign

The group noticed senbon with paper bombs wrapped around them. The senbon began to explode instantly causing more massive destruction. Naruto was forced to abandon his attempts to access sage mode and jumped away. Tenten and Sakura followed hoping to avoid the attack. Shikamaru had to run too even though he was in massive pain from the poison. Finally after another couple of minutes it stopped. Everyone had been injured from the attack. The group had burn marks and some senbon were stuck inside their skin. Sakura began to heal herself and the two with her. She would need to find Shikamaru.

Shikamaru wobbled as he walked. His legs were burned and he was bleeding from various wounds. He felt almost depleted of chakra. Then he realized something. He turned around to see Tadao with his fist drawn back. Shikamaru put his hands up but the punch was strong. Shikamaru was sent back a couple feet. Tadao wasted no time and stabbed a senbon into him with a purple poison on it.

"That poison will paralyze you for a large amount of time." Tadao said as Shikamaru collapsed unable to move, "I'll use you as bait for a trap."

Shikamaru cursed under his breath as Tadao lifted him up. He took two senbon and stabbed it into Shikamaru's shoulders and into a tree. Shikamaru was glad he couldn't feel the pain as badly due to being paralyzed. The thing Shikamaru didn't understand was how Tadao was able to make the poison spread so fast. He needed to think and tell his teammates.

_**Naruto**_

Kakashi ran quickly across the water as the gigantic shark followed with its mouth open. Neji, Shino and Lee had tried to fight it but failed. The shark had the advantage. Kakashi quickly ran up the side of the water dome hoping to keep the shark away from him while he thought of something. As he ran up the side the water formed into spikes forcing him to jump onto the water below. The shark instantly picked up its speed and rammed Kakashi hard. Kakashi was sent flying and hit the water.

"I was hoping for a real challenge!"

Lee jumped in front of Kakashi as the shark went for the kill. Lee quickly kicked it as hard as he could. The creature was sent out of water and close to Neji. Neji raised his palm and began to use gentle fist. The shark fell into the water. Neji smiled knowing the shark was going to have a very hard time now. He closed multiple areas of chakra decreasing its movement. When a shark can't move it dies.

"I think we've got him." Neji said calmly

"Good thing too." Kakashi said getting up

"We need to break this jutsu before that Akatsuki member is able to pull anything." Shino said

They all nodded and began to run towards the wall. Kakashi felt like something was wrong as they ran. He pulled out a kunai just in case. Then it hit him.

"Jump up!" he yelled

The group jumped into the air. They saw a massive wave come which would have easily pulled them towards the wall of water. They would probably have been stabbed by water spikes if that happened.

"Thanks Kakashi-sensei." Lee said as they reached the water

Kakashi nodded and turned to see the shark's dorsal fin nearing them. He had to formulate a plan and fast. As he thought of his plan the shark raised its head from out of the water. It opened its mouth a heavy beam of pressurized water went flying towards the group. They ran to the side hoping to avoid the beam. They knew that in one hit they would be killed. Kakashi was running and ducking as the beam passed over head. He realized at that moment the plan that would bring down the shark. He formed multiple hand signs and a chidori formed in his hands.

"Ok guys jump up." Kakashi yelled dodging the pressurized water

They nodded and Kakashi put his plan into action. He ran towards the shark dodging the water and placed his chidori in the water. Immediately the electric current flowed through the water shocking anything in it. The shark yelled as it was fried by the electricity.

"Good job Kakashi-sensei I can see why Gai-sensei sees you as a worthy opponent." Lee said

The three ninja in the air landed after the electricity in the water stopped.

"We need to get out of here." Neji said

Shino nodded in agreement followed by, "How? The walls are still can stab us with spikes."

"We'll find away I'm sure of it." Lee responded, "Even if we need to punch our way out of it!"

"I'm taking you guys with me." the shark whispered to itself as it watched the small group talk

The shark smiled and disappeared in a loud poof. Kakashi turned along with the rest to see it was gone. The dome suddenly started to collapse.

"Run!" Neji said as loud as he could

The group darted as quickly as they could, realizing there was no hope. They were running straight into the water wall if the continued. That would mean they would be impaled.

"Ok use the chakra you have to hold your breath." Kakashi said, "The power of this water will knock us under the surface. Hold your breath and we'll attack once we get to the surface."

They nodded and pushed the chakra towards their lungs. The water crashed on top of them pushing them underwater. They only hoped they could get up in time.

Masuyo had gotten her jutsu ready. She now needed to lead them to the center of the four symbols. If she did that they could begin. Her chakra had been replenished as well due to the rest. Now she could only watch as the dome fell on top of the leaf ninja.

'Wonder how my idiot brother is doing?' she thought to herself, 'After I'm finished with these pests I'll help capture the jinchuriki.'

_**Naruto **_

Tenten, Sakura and Naruto ran through the forest looking for Shikamaru who just disappeared. The ground was littered with senbon and various other weapons.

"Guys we should probably split up." Tenten suggested, "That way we could cover more ground."

"This opponent probably wants us to do just that." Sakura replied, "Remember he seems to want to hunt us down one by one. With all three of us together it will be harder for him to take us out."

"Remember he has those senbon. It wouldn't matter whether or not we were together or not. He can still take us out. It would probably be harder for him to take us out if we split up." Tenten said

"I agree with Tenten, Sakura." Naruto said trying to voice his opinion

Tenten gave a triumphant smile, "Two against one, its official we are splitting up."

Sakura glared at Naruto who just gave a sheepish smile. Sakura took a deep breath after a bit though realizing it may be in fact the best plan.

"Ok so Naruto you go south, Sakura you go north and I'll go east." Tenten said, "Then start covering more ground after you've reached a certain point. Mark where you've been with a kunai."

They nodded and jumped off hoping to find the enemy and Shikamaru. Tadao smiled as he watched from a nearby tree.

'Ok then.' he thought formulating a strategy, 'Bubblegum head is going north and will probably find him, but I've taken care of that. Now I'll form one more clone and then I'll hunt or nine-tailed friend myself.'

Tadao grabbed a vile of purple poison and threw it into the air. He threw a senbon up cracking the glass allowing the poison to flow freely. He formed a hand sign and the poison started to form a shape. It formed the shape of a human which slowly began to resemble Tadao. The poison took the form of Tadao and hoped off after Tenten.

'I'll capture the nine-tails now.'

He jumped off as well closing in on his target.

_**Naruto**_

Kakashi felt the water push him under the water. He looked around to see the others underwater as well already begin to start to swim up. He swam along with them hoping to get to the surface before the Akatsuki member pulled anything.

Masuyo quickly jumped on top of the water forming multiple hand signs. She had formulated her plan the minute the leaf ninja were pushed underwater.

"That shark was good for something." she mumbled, "Ice Release: Massive Ice Barrier!"

She jumped into the air and swung her arms up wards. She then raised a hand towards her mouth and a gust of wind went flying out. The moment the gust hit the water it began to freeze the top over.

"That took a lot out of me." she said taking deep breaths, "That damn ice release is tough on me. Now I just need to wait unto they drown and maybe I won't have to use that jutsu."

Kakashi quickly watched the top of the water freeze over. He knew something like this would happen. Though he didn't know the nature of the jutsu he was going to try and break through the ice.

'Just to be safe.' he thought forming a shadow clone

The clone swam quickly towards the ice. The minute it neared the ice, the ice formed large spikes that stabbed through the clone. The ice spikes retracted back into the large barrier.

'Damn it.' Kakashi thought angrily, 'I need to think of a way to break through that jutsu.'

The other Konoha ninja realized the problem they were in and began to quickly think of solutions. Lee and Shino were no use at all. Shino's bugs weren't exactly the type that could swim through water, and Lee had to use taijutsu which would probably end badly with the spikes. Neji however could try and break through using empty palm.

'The empty palm may work.' Neji thought realizing something, 'The only problem is that we don't know how long the spikes shoot. I need to get somewhat close to attack. Kakashi-sensei will have to do something.'

'Fire style won't work since we are underwater.' Kakashi thought turning back to the others, 'Maybe if I can use an exploding kunai.'

Kakashi took out the exploding kunai and threw it towards the ice. The kunai went off destroying part of the ice barrier. It was a hole large enough to fit one or two people. As Kakashi swam towards the hole it closed up with more ice.

'So the barrier can regenerate.' Kakashi thought, 'Then I'll need someone to stay close to the barrier when I blow part of it up. Then they can get out. This jutsu probably needs a lot of concentration so one hit to the one who casted it should deactivate it.'

Kakashi was sure he had the right analysis. Now he needed to get one of the leaf shinobi he was with to get out and injure or distract Masuyo to ruin concentration. He motioned to Lee with his hand to swim towards the surface. Lee seemed to understand and quickly swam close enough to the surface without activating the spikes.

'I hope this works.' Kakashi quickly thought throwing the explosive kunai

The kunai exploded creating a large hole in the ice. Lee quickly swam towards it and jumped out. Kakashi smiled beneath his mask hoping everything would go well from there. He turned to see Shino who was having a hard time maintaining his breath.

'Just a little bit more Shino.'

Kakashi looked back at the hole which already regenerated. Hopefully Lee would be able to break through.

_**Naruto**_

Naruto jumped through the large forest hoping to catch a glimpse of Shikamaru. If he could find his friend's location he could probably save him. As he ran though, something caught his attention. He turned to see three senbon nearing him covered with a blue liquid. He dodged and turned around to see Tadao smiling.

"You're lucky you dodged. That poison would have stopped your chakra flow." Tadao said taking out multiple non- poisoned senbon

"Why do you Akatsuki freaks keep coming after me!" Naruto asked raising his voice

"We Akatsuki need you to help with our plans. I thought we established that with you a long time ago." Tadao replied

Naruto dodged another few senbon that went flying his way. Naruto quickly formed a rasengan and charged towards the Akatsuki member. He dodged quickly and landed on top of a tree. The rasengan dispersed, and Naruto turned towards Tadao. Naruto then jumped towards Tadao with a kunai.

"Just give up nine-tails and maybe I won't have to use my special poison."

"I'm not giving up against you. I've fought stronger Akatsuki members in the past."

"I guess you are right, but as long as I keep you out of sage mode." Tadao stated, "I should win."

Naruto charged quickly at him throwing the kunai. Tadao quickly dodged and jumped into the air. He took out three scrolls and through them into the air.

"Ninja Art: Senbon Storm!"

The three scrolls erupted with senbon instantly sending them down upon Naruto. Naruto jumped down through the tree hoping not to get hit as badly.

"I guess I have no choice then." Tadao mumbled, "Masuyo taught me this but it uses energy. Wind Release: Wind Storm!"

He moved his hands in a circular motion and a large gust of wind was produced. The senbon went to the right and under the trees stabbing Naruto in his right arm. Naruto jumped away only to have the senbon come from that side too. Naruto couldn't really do anything but let the senbon stab into him. When it was over Naruto had multiple senbon in his sides. Blood formed around the senbon like large coins. Naruto feel to his knees trying to get up. All of his wounds combined were hurting him a lot. Tadao jumped down holding a senbon covered with blue poison.

Tenten had noticed the large attack and turned to go back. When she turned though, a strong kick was delivered into her jaw. She looked up to see Tadao. She jumped back and raised a scroll getting ready to attack.

'What the hell is going on?' Tenten thought thinking about the attack she saw earlier, 'This is very odd.'

Sakura jumped through the forest. The attack she saw earlier startled her but she saw something that caught her eye. It was a trail of little blood coins. Judging by Shikamaru's injuries at the time it probably came from him. She was sure that Shikamaru was this way.

_**Naruto**_

Masuyo dodged the multiple kicks that went her way. An angry Rock Lee was delivering them hoping to break her hand seal. She was able to dodge most of them easily. Lee was still recovering from being underwater for awhile making some of his moves easier to see.

"Give up kid and let them die easier." Masuyo said dodging, "Come on just give up!"

"I am a leaf shinobi, so I do not give up that easily." Lee responded pulling back his fist and punching her hard

She went flying back into the forest slamming into several trees. Almost instantly the ice began to split apart. It also started melting and Lee waited for his friends.

"Good job Lee." Kakashi said emerging from the water with Shino and Neji

"Yeah good job Lee." Neji said as Shino silently nodded

"I am glad to be able to assist my comrades." Lee responded giving a thumbs up and a wide smile

"Now we need to take her out." Kakashi said pointing as Masuyo got up from the tree she was slumped against

They nodded and ran towards her hoping to take her out.

Masuyo watched as they approached quickly. She stumbled to her feet and jumped up into the tree.

'Well know it appears I need to use that jutsu.' Masuyo thought angrily, 'I was going to use it on the nine-tailed jinchuriki but this will do.'

She quickly ran on top of the many trees. She was running towards the area with the symbols on the trees. Once she reached the center of it she could begin her jutsu. The rest would take care of its self. She smiled and formed a couple hand signs. Her hands began to glow a bright white as she ran through the forest. The leaf shinobi followed her deeper into the woods.

_**Naruto **_

Tsunade sat at her desk drinking a small cup of tea and reading the latest newspaper. She was having a problem that day due to the sudden explosion and the mass panic. Everything had calmed down once she told them that she had sent a group of shinobi to deal with the threat.

'What the hell is taking them if it was just to scout.' she thought a bit annoyed, 'Did they engage?'

Suddenly there was a cracking sound and she looked down at her cup of tea. A large crack ran down the side and tea spilt all over her desk. The tea also fell down the closed drawer and seemed to magically stop at one in particular.

'What the hell, this can't be good.' she thought realizing what drawer it was

Shizune watched a bit concerned as Tsunade pulled out a raffle ticket, "Tsunade-sama is everything ok?"

Shizune continued to watch as she flipped the newspaper to a certain page. Tsunade's eyes went from the raffle card to the paper. Shizune heard a gasp and then a gulp.

"I won." Tsunade muttered

"Tsunade-sama what do you mean you won?" Shizune asked suddenly realizing she said, "What do you want me to do? Should I take a team out to where the squad you sent is? We'll just check how their mission is going."

"Go ahead Shizune." Tsunade said a bit worried, "I advise you just take some medic ninja. Take Gai as well and be careful."

Shizune nodded and left the room quickly. Tsunade closed her eyes and opened another drawer. She took out a large bottle of sake and began to drink it.

'This isn't good.'

**Thanks for reading this chapter! Sorry for the late updates, but school has just started, and we've been hit with a lot of homework already. Sunday will be the day it is updated. Thanks! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks for reading the story so far. Chapter seven should be pretty long and should near the end of the battle. Next chapter should be the end of the battle and then another part to the story. Thanks for reviews! **

**Chapter 7: **

Sakura followed the small trail of blood that continued for awhile. She heard a groan and hid behind a tree. She slowly looked around the side of the tree. Then she saw him. Shikamaru was placed against a tree a couple yards away. Shikamaru was stuck to a tree on the perimeter of a large clearing across from her. She looked around for enemy traps and detected none.

'Ok here I go.' she thought starting to come out from behind the tree

"Bubblegum head it is really nice to see you again!"

Sakura turned forward and faced Tadao. She reared back her fist and punched him hard in the face. There was a crunching sound and his face seemed to melt into a purple liquid.

"That hurts you know." he said in a muffled voice

It was then him who reared back its fist and punched her. She went flying through the tree and in the middle of the clearing. She looked up to see Tadao's or whatever it was, face reforming to resemble the Akatsuki member.

"Ok then see ya later bubblegum head!" the creature said pulling its hand back

Sakura realized he had strings connected to his fingertips. As it pulled back there was a crunching sound. Suddenly hundreds of senbon went flying towards the spot where Sakura was recovering from the punch. She jumped into the air feeling a couple of the senbon stab into her leg.

'This isn't good.' she thought angrily landing on a senbon, 'Oh that hurts so much.'

She shut her eyes in pain as the senbon on the ground pierced through her foot. She looked back to see Shikamaru looking helpless.

"I've got to act fast." she mumbled as the creature in front of her ran towards her

She raised her hands in defense as he delivered a very hard punch. The clone smiled taking out five senbon. He grabbed Sakura around the neck and threw her towards Shikamaru. She slammed into Shikamaru and fell to the ground once again trying to get up.

"Well it appears you are as weak as our archives said." Tadao mumbled, "How did you beat Sasori?"

Sakura stumbled to get up but she was punched to the ground. The clone took two senbon and pierced through her shirt and into the ground. He took another two and stabbed them through her leg and into the ground. She winced in pain wondering what this thing was.

"Ok then I'm pretty sure this will do." the clone said, "Now I'll take out the other girl and then we will capture the Kyubi brat."

"Don't you dare touch Naruto!" she shouted surprising the clone

"Weird little girl." he mumbled

Sakura began to struggle but for some odd reason couldn't. The senbon were covered in charka that restrained her. She could only hope Naruto was ok.

Shikamaru began to try and struggle. His injuries were hurting him a lot. The poison though was wearing off so he hoped that once it did he would be able to escape.

_**Naruto **_

Masuyo ran through the forest as quickly as she could. She could hear the others following her towards her destination. She looked down to see her hands still shrouded in the white chakra that would be used for her jutsu.

'Ok just another couple yards.' she thought

Kakashi watched as she started nearing the ground. He felt strange about something. He had a bad feeling a really bad feeling. Lee, Shino and Neji were behind him and after recovering from being underwater they had began their assault.

"What is she doing?' he wondered as she landed in a small circular clearing

"I advise you all stand back." she said smiling

"Come quietly." Kakashi said calmly, "We don't want to do anything we'll regret."

'Just a bit to the left.' she thought taking a few steps

"I said to stop."

"Ice Release: Mystical Ice Mountain!"

Kakashi watched as she placed her hands on the ground. There were massive tremors almost instantly. Kakashi felt a huge gust of wind which immediately uprooted the trees in the area. Kakashi and the other three were also pushed back a couple yards. The next thing was the trees with the symbols for water, earth, wind and ice began to shine violently. A beam of light from each tree hit where Masuyo was standing. Masuyo smiled at Kakashi who was shocked as the Earth began to rise. Around the rising Earth, four spouts of water sprung up into the sky. As the mountain continued to get bigger and bigger ice began to coat the ground. Snow then slowly began to cover the mountain and ice. More Earth rose turning the once small mountain into something that looked like a huge mountain range. Snow, ice and parts of earth were everywhere on it. Kakashi looked up shocked along with Neji, Lee and Shino. The only question left was what did it do? Something of this size had to do something. Kakashi turned and realized something bad. Behind them the ice had created a huge wall. Spike protruded out of it. The sky around the mountain was grey and dark. Masuyo stood hundreds of feet on the mountain.

"I need to rest." Masuyo yelled down to the small group, "Have fun."

She disappeared inside a cave like structure. She sat down on a rock and began to cough up blood. She had done to much hadn't she? She wiped away the blood trickling from her mouth and collapsed unconscious.

Kakashi and the others couldn't believe what they were looking at. The only way to fight her would be to climb the entire thing. Lee just stared at the creation before them. He was shocked as much as Neji and Shino.

"Ok guys it appears she had trapped us here. This place is under twenty-five degrees and it isn't looking good if we stay here." Kakashi said, "The only way to break this jutsu is to take her out. The only way we can do that is by reaching her at the top of the mountain."

"So we need to climb this entire mountain." Lee said

"Don't worry we can locate her."\Shino said, "I placed one of my bugs on her."

"Good job Shino." Kakashi said calmly, "Now we need to go. I have a very bad feeling about this."

"Kakashi-sensei what's that." Neji asked pointing to a snow pile which was forming something

"This place must be rigged with hundreds of traps." Kakashi mumbled as the snow formed five snow clones, "This is going to be hard than I originally thought."

_**Naruto **_

The real Tadao reared back his hand which held the senbon covered with the blue poison. Naruto winced in pain as he felt it go through his shirt and into his skin.

"Good luck molding chakra and using jutsu now." Tadao said smiling, "Maybe I don't need to use that poison. I know your ability to control the nine-tails. I'm not very frightened. As long as my poison circulates through you, your chakra is almost impossible to access. Good luck."

Naruto felt a fist connect with his jaw. He went flying into a tree and spat out blood. On instinct he formed a hand sign for his shadow clones but all he felt was pain. Nothing happened and he realized the poison was already working.

"How are you able to get the poison working so fast?" Naruto yelled as another punch was delivered into his stomach

"Isn't it obvious? I have the senbon coated in chakra as well." Tadao said with Naruto looked at him confused, "I use that chakra to spread my poison in the blink of any eye."

Naruto grabbed a kunai and threw it at the man before him. Tadao dodged and kicked Naruto's ankles. Naruto began to fall but felt himself being thrown into the air.

"How is he able to do this?" Naruto mumbled as a fist was delivered into his stomach sending him plummeting into the ground, "I want this to stop."

"It won't as long as you walk, talk and breathe." Tadao said landing on his feet next to Naruto

"I'm not giving up!"

Naruto swung his leg around knocking Tadao off his feet. As Tadao fell to the ground Naruto punched him hard in the face. The Akatsuki member went flying into a tree but slowly got up. Naruto as well got up and began to run knowing that if he stayed it would be bad. He just hoped the poison would wear off and he could end this.

Tenten and the clone were engaged in a fierce battle. Kunai and senbon were scattered around the forest floor. Tenten had been hit with many senbon and was bleeding pretty bad. The thought crossed her that maybe it wasn't a good idea to split up.

"So what are you going to do now?" the clone asked pulling out a kunai that was lodged into its side, "I'm pretty sure killing me is going to be harder than just throwing kunai."

'I'll have to alert the attention of the others,' she thought grabbing an explosive kunai, "but they probably are being attack too.'

She threw the explosive kunai into a tree. The tree erupted into flames and fell almost hitting the clone. The clone just dodged and threw three senbon. Tenten launched three kunai stopping the senbon mid-air.

"You know that your friends are slowly being killed." it said smiling taking out another couple senbon

"Then I'll have to take you out quicker." Tenten responded running up the side of a tree

"That won't work." it responded

Tenten just snickered and threw two large shuriken towards the clone. It dodged and jumped on a tree. Tenten threw two kunai at him forcing him to climb further up the tree.

"Gotcha!" she yelled forming a hand sign

The kunai which were armed with explosion tags exploded causing the clone to fall from the tree. Tenten smiled once again and pulled back her hand. The two large shuriken broke into pieces. She pulled again and one of the blades went flying into the air impaling the clone. It fell to the ground and struggled for bit until it stopped moving all together.

"Now I need to find Naruto and Sakura." Tenten mumbled, "Oh and Shikamaru too."

She turned to run towards their lat meeting place. Something stopped her though. She turned to see the clone getting up. It slowly removed the blade of the shuriken and threw it aside. The wound began to slowly heal itself.

"Where do you think you're going?"

_**Naruto**_

Kakashi ran with a chidori in hand slamming it into the snow clone before him. They had already defeated one of the clones using Lee and his taijutsu. As the snow clone Kakashi just impaled slumped to the ground another one came from behind him. It had turned its hand into a hammer and began to swing it. Kakashi dodged the multiple attempts. Neji came up from behind the clone and began to rapidly hit it with his palms. The clone fell to the ground and became regular snow again. Shino battled along with Lee another one of the clones.

"Shino try to use your bugs to take out the last two clones. It will save us time and effort." Kakashi said dodging another attack

"Understood Kakashi-sensei." Shino said raising his sleeves

Hundreds of flying insects went flying out. They immediately wrapped themselves around the clones. Soon the clones were destroyed due to the constriction of the bugs. They all took deep breaths and looked up towards the mountain.

"Ok then we need to keep going up until we reach the top." Kakashi said taking another deep breath

"The sooner the better." Lee said also taking deep breaths

"This jutsu is very weird." Neji mumbled, "She was able to cause a huge shift in weather and create a mountain rigged with traps."

"Whatever traps lay ahead we need to keep going." Kakashi said looking up towards the mountain, "This place is like a torture chamber. The longer we stay here the more traps come after us. If we just wait here we freeze to death."

They nodded and ran quickly up a mountain pathway. The climbing had begun but so had the traps. As Kakashi walked over a small hill covered with snow he dodged multiple icicles that fell from overhead bigger then himself. The group slowly made there way without any traps towards a steep cliff that was very tall.

"If we get past this we should be able to get closer to Masuyo." Shino said, "I'm still not sure how we are supposed to get across."

"We shall run up." Lee yelled excitedly jumping on the steep cliff and running up

"Wait stop Lee!" Neji yelled, "It is unstable!"

Lee turned around confused and looked up. There was snow falling off the top of the cliff coming down fast. Lee turned and jumped towards the group.

"Everyone get behind me!" Kakashi yelled forming hand sign

They nodded and ran behind Kakashi. Kakashi got ready and a large fireball exploded towards the avalanche. The snow instantly melted in the center so they wouldn't get hit. Snow though was still coming down the left and the right.

"Wait what is that?" Neji said jumping away

An arm made of snow reached out from the left side almost grabbing him. Hands made of snow continued to attack them forcing them to dodge.

"It appears that the snow is under that Akatsuki member's control." Lee yelled dodging

"Don't worry it is almost over." Kakashi said realizing the avalanche was slowly but surely stopping

They nodded hoping he was right but then something happened. A hand reached out a grabbed Shino before he could dodge. Shino was pulled along with the avalanche.

"Shino!" Lee yelled turning around

There was a loud crack and then the mountain stood still. The avalanche had stopped and Shino was buried underneath the snow. Kakashi looked worried realizing that there comrade may in fact be dead.

"We should go." Neji said, "We shouldn't let his death be in vain."

"We can't just abandon him." Lee argued back, "We don't know if Shino is dead."

"We aren't abandoning him Lee." Neji said sternly, "Not many could survive that."

"Don't underestimate Shino." Kakashi said pointing towards the snow

Shino was slowly being pulled out of the snow by large flying insects. He looked up towards the group and gave thumbs up indicating he was ok.

"Probably a couple broken bones." Kakashi said, "We have to keep moving, but I'm sure he'll be fine."

The two others nodded and the three began their charge up the mountain.

Masuyo looked down from the mountain top. She had taken only one down with her attack. Soon she would take all three of them down. Suddenly she found herself in deep pain. She gripped her head hoping the headache would subside.

"I can't wait to kill these freaks." she muttered, "I'll make sure to tear through them slowly."

She slowly walked back towards the little cave she was resting in.

_**Naruto**_

Tenten felt at least ten senbon pierce into her body. She then felt herself slam into a tree and loose her breathe. She knew she needed to do something fast. She looked up to see the clone slowly walk towards her.

'I have an idea.' she thought grabbing a scroll

Out of the scroll came one large shuriken. She threw it at him and surprisingly he let the weapon slice deeply into his leg. He stopped moving for a second and gripped the weapon. He slowly pulled it out.

"I will kill you with this weapon." he said revealing purple poison on the shuriken

Tenten got ready for the attack. He charged at her spinning the shuriken dangerously fast. She jumped into the air allowing the shuriken to pierce the tree. She smiled and put her hands together.

"What no!" the clone yelled seeing the paper bomb on the tree

He went to jump back but Tenten kicked his into one of the blade of the shuriken. He was pierced onto the shuriken as the paper bomb exploded. The weapon's mistress jumped back as the tree fell smashing the clone into the ground. She knew it was over as purple liquid fell out from where his body was. Now she needed to find Naruto, Sakura and Shikamaru.

Naruto realized it was much harder than he expected to run from an enemy who had chakra when he himself was unable to use it. He had to admit though he slowly felt his chakra control returning to him. Tadao was getting much closer to him which slightly worried him.

"Give up kid!"

"Take this!" Naruto yelled turning around with a hand sign ready, "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Fifty clones appeared and surrounded Tadao. The Akatsuki member looked shocked.

"How in the world are you able to do that? That poison should still be working!" Tadao yelled

"Can you guys handle him? I need to find Sakura and the others." the real Naruto said

"Go ahead boss we'll take him!" the clones yelled running towards a still shocked Tadao

"Good." Naruto said running quicker towards where he heard a large explosion

Tadao watched as the clones jumped towards him. They delivered hundreds of kicks and punches. He tried dodging but slowly he got tired. A punch connected with his jaw sending him flying. He looked up to see a foot coming down. It smashed into his head causing him to fall to the ground. He formed a hand sign dispersing his other poison clone so he could use the energy.

"Now we end this!" a clone yelled, "Boss gave us enough energy for this!"

Tadao watched as all but two clones disappeared. The two clones began forming a swirling mass of chakra in his hand. Tadao grabbed a scroll but it was too late. The clone was right in front of him holding the swirling ball of charka.

"Rasengan!"

Tadao felt a pain he had never felt before. His stomach was on fire as the swirling chakra ball was stabbed into his stomach. He went flying into a tree and his head went limp. The clones smiled and dispersed leaving Tadao alone breathing heavily.

"Good thing that wasn't his strongest." Tadao whispered in pain as he was forming a large amount of emerald chakra, "Now after I'm done healing myself I'll kill them and capture or nine-tails friend."

He slowly got up taking out his special scroll. He opened it up and a vile of that special deadly poison appeared. He dipped three kunai in it and sealed it back in. Yes he was going to use that.

Tenten ran through the forest towards where Sakura was going. She had a bad feeling. As she ran through the forest a flash or bright yellow caught her gaze.

"Naruto is that you!" she yelled

"Tenten! I was looking for you guys." Naruto exclaimed running towards her, "I'm looking for Sakura and Shikamaru I'm worried about them."

"Same here." Tenten admitted

"Then we should pick up the pace." Naruto said jumping through the forest faster

Tenten nodded and followed him hoping to reach them before it they were killed or taken hostage.

Sakura watched as Shikamaru began to struggle. It was obvious to her that the poison she had told him about had worn off.

"Sakura once I'm done getting out of this we'll find the others." Shikamaru said taking deep breaths

"You two won't be going anywhere.", Tadao said appearing from the ground with his Akatsuki robe torn in the center obviously from a rasengan, "This will be the end of you two and the nine-tails will be captured."

Sakura glared at him angrily. She then watched as he placed at least ten paper bombs in the center of the clearing. He covered them with leaves and dirt making it completely unnoticeable.

"This will be fun." Tadao said smiling

_**Naruto**_

Lee, Neji and Kakashi stood at the top of the large cliff. Over a couple yards was the small gave like structure. The place they were on was like a huge field of snow. It was about the size of the stadium where the chunnin exams took place but slightly bigger.

"Get ready guys." Kakashi said seriously, "This can get bad."

They nodded and slowly began to walk towards the cave. As they approached they formed a plan. Lee would stand on the left side, Neji on the right and Kakashi would stand center. They would jump in and surprise attack her.

"Ok Lee get ready." Kakashi said, "Neji when I say we attack."

Neji and Lee both nodded. Kakashi raised his left hand and then his right. They nodded and they all jumped in taking out kunai. There was the sound of dripping of water. That was all, nothing more nothing less.

"Where is she?" Lee asked looking around the cave

It was small with a chair made of ice. Besides that it was empty and lifeless.

"Wait a second." Neji said, "We need to get out of here now!"

There was a slight sizzling sound and the group realized. About thirteen paper bombs were on the top. They ran as fast as they could as the bombs exploded. The group jumped out and the cave collapsed in a fiery explosion.

"Good job Neji." Kakashi said taking a deep breath

Neji nodded at the compliment and began to look around. He saw something that would define as the enemy and jumped up getting ready. The others got the signal and did the same. 

"My, my you escaped my traps." Masuyo said appearing a couple yards in front of them, "I got one of you now I just have three more. You may be asking yourselves what makes this place so amazing right? Nothing but snow and a couple pathetic traps, right? Well I'll show you what this place is like."

She raised her arm and snow began to rise from the ground. It swirled around her and stopped suddenly.

"You see I have the ability to control everything on the mountain and in it." Masuyo said smiling, "Except for you three pests."

She did a hand motion and the snow instantly went flying towards her enemies, similar to Gaara's sand control. Kakashi dodged quickly while Lee jumped in the air with Neji.

"That won't save you!" she yelled moving her hands around

The snow went up and grabbed Lee's and Neji's feet. The snow began to go high in the air. Kakashi noticed and ran towards Masuyo. The Akatsuki member quickly moved her hand a bit causing the snow to rise protecting her from Kakashi's attack. She raised her fist up and opened it. Lee and Neji were dropped from mid-air. They were pretty high up which worried Kakashi a bit. The two shinobi were about to hit the ground when the snow grabbed them and launched them once again high into the air.

"This is fun don't you agree?" Masuyo said laughing

"Not really!" Kakashi replied ramming a chidori through her defense

"Damn it Kakashi." she yelled raising her arms

The snow around her went flying up in the air along with her standing proudly on top of it. Kakashi stopped his chidori and began to run up the snow. Masuyo noticed and began to launch multiple snow attacks.

"You're going to have to do better than that." Kakashi said dodging another attack

"Fine then Kakashi." she angrily replied forming hand signs

"What in the world are those?" Kakashi mumbled as hundreds of snowballs came raining down from the sky

He started dodging but one hit him. He felt a sharp sting where it had hit him. The snow melted away revealing a kunai imbedded into his skin.

'Damn it.', he thought realizing that all those snowballs have kunai in them

The snow cylinder Kakashi was running up suddenly began to wrap around his feet. He cursed realizing he couldn't move and hundreds of kunai were flying towards him.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

He fired the fireball into the side of the snow cylinder instantly melting it. Kakashi's feet were free and he jumped through the hole he made. The kunai missed him and he began to once again climb the cylinder.

"You little pest." Masuyo mumbled moving her hands again

Snow shot up from the ground and began to bash into the cylinder trying to crush Kakashi. The masked ninja dodged all of the attacks and finally made it to the top facing Masuyo.

"I think it is over." Kakashi said raising a kunai, "Now come quietly."

"You leaf ninja all think you are so on top of things, right? You fools think you are safe when trust me you are not." Masuyo said pushing her arms to the snow

The tall snow cylinder began to break down. Kakashi began to feel like he was falling. Then something began to punch him. He looked to see snow flying past him and slamming into him in every direction. He looked down to see Masuyo perfectly fine without a problem.

'Now I end this.' she thought

Snow pushed into Kakashi's stomach sending him flying into the ground. Kakashi hit the ground and felt himself being pulled into the mountain.

_**Naruto **_

Zetsu stood over Sasuke's corpse with a small knife and a large jar. He had easily got into the leaf because of all the chaos. Doctors were forced to deal with people who had been hurt trying to find safety. The blast scared everyone into thinking they were being attacked. This panic caused some injuries.

"**Now carve around this way.**" black Zetsu said as white carved into the eye

"I hate this it is so disgusting." white Zetsu replied while removing one of the eyes, "One more to go."

There was a strange sound and the plant monster turned. A leaf medic had entered the room and looked shocked at what she saw.

"I suggest you stop whatever you are doing!" he yelled running at Zetsu with charka scalpels ready

"**Pathetic as usual."** Zetsu mumbled running towards the medic and punching him hard

The medic fell over gasping for air. Zetsu quickly grabbed his neck and broke it. The Akatsuki member turned and began to remove the second eye.

_**Naruto **_

Shizune and her squad ran through the forest as quickly as they could. They knew they were approaching the target due to the immense chakra. Gai ran next to Shizune, while three other medic ninja ran in front.

"We're almost there." Shizune yelled

They heard a gurgling sound and large spikes suddenly appeared in front of them. Two medics jumped back, but the other one was impaled.

"What is this?" Gai asked slowly approaching

"Get back Gai." Shizune yelled, "This is some kind of enemy barrier. We're not getting past unless we think of something."

The remaining ninja nodded, and they began to think of a way to break the barrier.

_**Naruto **_

Kakashi felt himself slowly being dragged down into the snow mountain. If he didn't do something fast he would probably be killed. Masuyo stood silently as Kakashi was dragged down into the mountain. Lee and Neji both were pretty beat up from being dropped. Their legs were broken and they were bleeding from several cuts. The snow under them slowly turned red.

"I guess I win Kakashi." she said smiling

"I'm not finished yet." he replied, "I'll get out of here somehow."

"How are you going to?" she couldn't finish as she spat out a large amount of blood, which in turn halted the mountain absorbing Kakashi.

"Chidori!" Kakashi yelled destroying the snow around him

He jumped out and ran towards Masuyo. He quickly kicked her ankles causing her to fall on the ground. He pointed a kunai at her neck.

"Now give up." Kakashi warned in a dangerous tone

"You're funny -cough- Kakashi." she said as blood continued to trickle down the side of her mouth, "Giving up just doesn't suit me."

The snow around her began to cover her. Kakashi stabbed the kunai into the snow to no avail. He turned around to see Masuyo emerging from the ground. She quickly kicked him sending him flying. He looked up to see her smiling and wiping away blood. She raised her hand and snow began to form in the shape of a sword.

"Now Kakashi let us see who wins." she said

Kakashi grabbed a kunai and ran towards her. The two weapons collided. The two held the position until Kakashi realized the snow around him had wrapped around his feet. Masuyo spun around and sliced deep into his legs. He fell to his knees in pain.

"Now you can know what happens when you mess with me." she said kicking him off the side of the giant snow field

Kakashi fell down the long cliff hitting into rocks and ice. He grabbed his kunai and stabbed it into the mountain. He slowly stopped but almost instantly snow began to attack him. He let go of the kunai and fell onto a large frozen pond that had also formed. The ice cracked around him and he winced in pain. He looked around looking at his surroundings. There was a small amount of snow around the edge of the pond. The ground ended at a large freefall at the far end. The pond seemed to be on a small rocky edge protruding from the side.

"Damn it, if I don't do something soon I'll be dead." Kakashi mumbled

He looked up to see his enemy slowly land on the pond with him. She smiled at him and he just glared in return.

"This will be our final battle place Kakashi." she said smiling, "Then I'll capture the nine-tails."

"What makes you so certain you will win?" Kakashi asked

"Trust me I'll win."

Kakashi slowly rose from where he was lying. The ice covered pond cracked slightly. He began to get ready for whatever attack she had in store.

**Sorry for such a late update! Well that was chapter 7. I hope you enjoyed. Thanks! **


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi everyone who's reading this story. The battle should conclude and then sort of a part two will take place. Thanks to all those who have reviewed and I hope you enjoy this chapter. Check note at bottom afterwards, thanks!**

**Chapter 8: **

Tadao disappeared once again behind trees. Sakura and Shikamaru were still trying to get out and stop whatever he was planning. The man was obviously weak from the attack he tried on Naruto. Sakura could only hope that it wouldn't be too late for Naruto or Tenten to come.

"Sakura, Shikamaru!"

Sakura and Shikamaru looked up to see if their friends were coming. Tadao who was hiding in a tree and cloaked heard them too. He was getting ready for their arrival.

"Sakura, Shikamaru, if you hear us yell!"

Sakura looked at Shikamaru who also had a worried look. They needed to think of something before it was too late. They heard bushes moving and looked to see their two friends come out.

"Naruto, Tenten! Run get out of here!" Sakura yelled

They didn't listen and they both ran towards their friends. Tadao smiled and formed the hand sign. It was only a matter of seconds now.

"Sakura-chan you had me worried." Naruto said in a relieved voice, "For a second there I was afraid I may have lost you."

He began to undo the senbon that were stabbed into her. She was just happy to have him call her 'Sakura-chan' again. Then she remembered the danger they were in.

"We need to get away from here now!" she yelled as Naruto finally finished getting the senbon out of her

"Why?"

"I'll tell you why!" Tadao yelled, "Bye, bye!"

There was a burning sound and then a bright flash. The next thing anybody knew they were sent flying through the trees and bushes. The forest around them was being wiped out. Shikamaru and Tenten went in one direction while Naruto and Sakura went in another. Sakura felt herself being shielded by someone. She looked to see Naruto had covered her taking most of the blast. Naruto was smiling slightly at her as they continued to fly through the air.

'There it is.' Tadao thought smiling

The blast had stopped after a while. Naruto and Sakura were somewhere across the woods to Shikamaru and Tenten. Sakura looked around to see they were in a wooded area once again. Naruto was on the ground next to here stumbling up.

"Thanks Naruto." she said

"Anytime Sakura-chan." Naruto replied smiling and then trying to grab a kunai but realizing something, "Oh damn my weapons holder is gone."

"We can always get another one." Sakura replied smiling which in turn got a smile from him

That smile was short lived as someone kicked him hard in the back. He was sent flying into a tree. Sakura looked up in horror to see the Akatsuki member. Tadao smiled and began to walk towards Naruto. Naruto was breathing heavily. His back had been badly burnt from the explosion. He was dirty and blood fell from the senbon wounds.

"Ok nine-tails let us be going now." Tadao said

"Not in this lifetime!" Naruto yelled kicking Tadao in his ankles

Tadao fell and Naruto jumped high in the air. He formed a shadow clone in mid-air and began to form his rasengan. As Naruto came down with the rasengan, Tadao took out a scroll and jumped away. Naruto hit the ground with the rasengan and then ran towards Tadao. Using his fist, Naruto punched Tadao hard.

"Nice job." Tadao said forming a hand sign

Naruto looked at his arm in horror. A paper bomb had been placed there. He quickly removed it, but it exploded burning Naruto's hand and arm. Naruto knelt to the ground in complete pain.

"For someone who killed Uchiha Sasuke you sure are weak." Tadao said smiling

Naruto turned and went to kick the Akatsuki member. Tadao dodged and pulled back his fist. He launched Naruto into a tree.

"Capture complete." Tadao said smiling, "How do you like that pinky?"

Tadao turned to see Sakura running towards him with a chakra enhanced fist. He watched as the fist connected with him directly in the stomach. He looked shocked as he was sent flying into a tree. He hit it hard and blood spat out of his mouth.

"How do you like that?" Sakura yelled falling to the ground unable to move

She had used too much chakra in her current condition. She watched as Tadao jumped onto a branch and began to heal himself. His eyes were black and blue and blood fell from his broken nose. He immediately began to heal himself with his chakra.

"You son of a bitch." he murmured, "If you want to play it that way then we will."

Sakura smiled a confident smile at him, as if saying you fool. He was still transfixed on the pink hair. He thought it was weird and since the nine-tails was down why not use it? It seemed good enough. He hadn't just sat at some lab and made a poison for nothing.

_**Naruto**_

Masuyo smiled at Kakashi who had gotten up. She really wanted to take him on and now was the perfect time. She raised her fist and punched the ice breaking it instantly. Kakashi jumped off the ice and began a barrage of fists towards her. She dodged a couple but got hit. She fell into the pond and bubbles formed around where she had fallen in. Kakashi watched though as water went flying up revealing her to be standing on it.

"Well Kakashi when I said I control everything on this mountain I meant everything!" she yelled sending small blasts of water towards him

He easily dodged the blasts of water. As the blasts hit the snow it turned to ice much of what Kakashi was hoping for. Kakashi stopped for a second and formed a chidori.

"What are you doing now?" Masuyo asked sending more water bullets towards him

Kakashi ran towards the water pond and rammed his chidori into it. The lightning traveled across the pond and up the cylinder. Masuyo jumped away before she was struck with the attack. As she landed Kakashi ran at her with a kunai and stabbed it into her arm. She fell to the ground breathing hard.

"You loose." Kakashi said, "Now come so we can interrogate you." Kakashi said

"I wonder what you look like under that mask. Masuyo stated "Maybe I should take a peak."

She took a deep breath and blew a frozen mist. It seemed to freeze the mask and nothing else. Masuyo then kicked Kakashi off of her and punched his ice covered mask. It cracked along with the mask and fell off.

"Interesting." Masuyo said looking at him without his mask

He looked like his father except a lot younger. It was just normal nothing like she expected. She was wondering if there was something embarrassing under the mask.

"You look nice but I was hoping for something a bit more funny." Masuyo said smiling, "You know what I mean." she said quickly as Kakashi gave her a confused glance, "I was hoping for something embarrassing." she said slightly annoyed

"You've done what many have tried." Kakashi said a bit annoyed that he lost his mask and other under it, "I can't believe you got my mask off."

Masuyo smiled and ran towards him forming an ice sword in her hand. Kakashi dodged the attacks she made with it and broke it when it came by him. She went past him and slightly kept going still in shock. Masuyo looked shocked but snapped back into reality quickly. She dodged a fist the whizzed past her head and kneed Kakashi in his stomach. She flipped him into the water and formed hand signs.

"Ice Style: Ice Coating."

She placed her hands to the pond water which covered with ice. She smiled and waited. She closed her eyes and began to rest. There was no way Kakashi would be able to escape any time soon. She suddenly felt something very strange. Then she snapped them back open and looked behind her. Kakashi punched her square across the face sending her skidding across the ice. She stopped and looked up at him.

"How did you break free so quickly?" she asked

"I never actually was underwater." Kakashi said smiling slightly at his enemy's confusion, "When you ran past me after I broke the sword I made a clone. I then went underground and waited for you to get him in the water. I knew you would try the same trick twice."

She remembered how she had trapped them under ice back when the mountain wasn't formed yet. She looked a bit angered and then realized Kakashi was in front of her. He pinned her to the ground disabling movement.

"Kakashi I never knew you had it in you." she said winking

"You really are a bit sick aren't you?" he asked, "The enemy should never try to form bonds with the other enemy."

"Can you blame a girl for trying?" she asked giving a sad puppy dog look

Kakashi was starting to weaken from her attempts. This felt like one of Jiraiya's horrible books he read. He was starting to feel like the pervert Jiraiya was. She smiled and grabbed his arms. She then flipped him off of her. She got up and moved her hands. Snow rose around her and hit into Kakashi. He had to admit it hurt a lot.

"Oh Kakashi are you done already?"

"Not really." Kakashi replied forming hand signs, "Look around this place."

Masuyo slowly looked around and realized something. Kakashi pulled slightly and wire pretty much came out everywhere from the ground. She looked at Kakashi and realized a bit too late. Kakashi took a deep breath and released a huge amount of fire which ran down the lines. The snow around them began to melt along with the ice. Masuyo looked shocked.

"No, what are you doing!" she yelled

The snow had pretty much melted along with the ice which left rock. The pond was still covered with ice. Masuyo realized the problem she was in. She couldn't control the rock on the mountain no matter how much she bragged, and now she only had water. The only problem was Kakashi could stop her water attacks with Chidori.

"You smart little devil." she mumbled, "Damn you Kakashi!"

Kakashi stood up and smiled. He formed some hand signs. Masuyo was too weak it wasn't looking good for her. She knew what was going to come next.

"Sorry my brother I failed." she whispered

Kakashi got ready but noticed she wasn't making a move to defend herself. This made him feel a bit uneasy. He had to attack her though to stop her and the Akatsuki.

"It has been fun Kakashi." she said smiling walking a bit backwards towards the edge of the cliff, "Take me out now. I know when I've been beat by a stronger opponent. I may be considered scum by you, but I do show honor to my most difficult opponents."

_**Naruto **_

Tadao took out two small scrolls. He looked down at the pink haired medic who was trying to stand up. She couldn't and then he noticed Naruto who was also trying to stand up. He opened one of the scrolls and a bow and several arrows appeared. He opened the second scroll and a green liquid with black and red dots appeared. He took out three arrows and dipped them in the strange liquid.

"What is that?" Sakura asked looking at the liquid

"You see my dear it happens to be my strongest and best poison. I had just found it recently you know. It was in a cave in the sound village. It posses amazing powers and I myself am frightened. It should kill you in a matter of days and does it so gruesomely." Tadao replied smiling as he pulled back the arrows

Naruto was still trying to get up. He began to fear something very bad to come for Sakura.

"I need a test subject from another village you see." he continued pulling back further, "Since I'm a bit confused about the pink hair I think I'll test it on you. I mean who has ever seen pink hair? It really is something you know? Is it natural or not?" Tadao asked all these questions making her get annoyed, "Anyway enough talk my friends, let us start this wonderful experiment."

Time seemed to slow down as the arrows were shot towards Sakura. Tadao smiled as the arrows neared her. Naruto was now running hoping to stop the arrows. He was without all of his weapons because of the explosion. He had lost his weapon carrier. He tried to run faster as the poisoned arrows neared her. There were three loud thumps. Birds flew away; the sound of flapping wings was heard. Tadao looked at the scene before him and smiled.

"NARUTO!"

_**Naruto **_

Kakashi ran towards the woman before him. His chidori instantly slammed into her making her step back a bit. He watched her as she spit some blood out. She smiled at him and looked at him with half-lidded eyes.

"Kakashi who knew you would be the death of me? I can -cough- tell you are a great shinobi to be able to defeat me. Amazing, truly amazing. Kakashi Hatake you have power thanks to that sharingan. That sharingan is the thing that beat me. Not only did that sharingan beat me, you showed a lot of concern about your teammates. That is the lesson I will remember from our fight." Masuyo said weakly pausing for a bit, "What type of lesson would it be if I didn't learn? Now allow me to learn from your lesson!"

She grabbed Kakashi's hand so he couldn't move. His hand was still stuck in her body. She jumped off the side of the cliff causing them to both fall. Kakashi realized and wrenched his hand out.

"Mountain Perish technique." Masuyo said with one of her final breath, "Goodbye Kakashi."

The mountain around them began to recede back into the earth. Shino had helped Neji and Lee and they were slowly coming back down to earth on top of Shino's bugs.

Kakashi continued to fall realizing the impact would kill him. He needed to think fast before he was splattered against the earth. He removed his hand away from her and kicked the Akatsuki member away. He formed some hand signs instantly.

"Fireball Jutsu!"

Fireballs hit into the snow that was falling causing it to melt. He still fell but had his plan already made out.

"Water Style: Water Encampment wall!"

The water that was falling with him wrapped around him formed a well made defense. He crashed into the ground hard and rolled. His arm had to be broken and he was out of chakra.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi turned to see Lee, Neji and Shino. They all gasped once seeing that his mask was off. He began to smile and used his hand to cover his face.

"I know it's a shock." Kakashi said, "Now we need to find the others."

They nodded and Shino used his best bugs to help lift the group through the forest.

_**Naruto **_

Shizune was starting to get slightly impatient. She turned and threw a kunai at the wall. Nothing happened at all. Gai and the other two watched as she formed a clone that ran towards where the water wall was. Nothing happened once again.

"The wall is down." Shizune said slightly glad, "Lets go!"

The group started running through the forest looking for anyone. They began to call out names hoping to get a signal. A sudden swarm of large bugs appeared and stopped in front of them.

"Those definitely belong to an Aburame." Gai said

"Shino went with the group." Shizune said smiling, "Follow those bugs!"

The group quickly followed after the bugs hoping to fid their comrades. After a couple of minutes the group watched the bugs descend to the forest floor.

"Kakashi." Gai said, "Lee, Neji!"

The group was now lying on the forest floor. Shizune went besides Kakashi who still had his hand covering his face. Shizune began to heal his arm and other minor wounds. The two other medics also began to heal Lee and Neji.

"What took you so long?" Kakashi asked Gai

"Well you see there was a barrier we couldn't get past." Gai said, "We're here now though!"

Kakashi just sort of nodded which in turn got an angry look from Gai. Kakashi slightly smiled as Gai started talking about how he was his rival and how cool he acted. Shizune looked as though she was going to loose it along with the other two medics.

_**Naruto **_

Sakura didn't remember screaming his name. She didn't remember when she heard the thumps of kunai piercing into someone's back. All she cared about was him.

"Hey Sakura-chan." he said smiling, "I hope this makes you except my promise."

"Naruto." she said looking at him, "No Naruto why?"

"I wanted you to know that I love you more than my own life." he said wincing in pain

She couldn't say anything more. She just wrapped her hands around him and pulled him closer to her. She quickly gripped the kunai and pulled them out of him. She healed his wounds as he winced in pain. She could only hope that whatever poison that was he hadn't been infected.

"Naruto you fool." she said looking at his blue eyes now half-lidded, "I already loved you more than Sasuke. I really did and now look."

Naruto just looked at her a bit shocked. He used his not burnt hand and pushed her hair out of her eyes. He hugged her a bit tighter hoping she would finally understand his true feelings and accept him.

"Naruto I should have been stronger. I should have dodged." she whispered, "This is my fault."

"Oh my god just stop already!" Tadao yelled, "I'm not a fan of this. All of this cuddly crap. You messed up bubblegum head and now nine-tails over here is coming with me"

She just ignored him and began to cry slightly into Naruto's chest. He had passed out from exhaustion she would have guessed. Tadao looked down and suddenly a feeling of guilt hit him hard. Then he felt a strange presence. He turned quickly to see several kunai fly towards him. He dodged quickly and grabbed three more arrows with strange markings. Tenten and an injured Shikamaru jumped from the trees.

"You aren't going anywhere." Tenten warned

Tadao narrowed his eyes angrily. He jumped backwards a bit. Shikamaru and Tenten jumped in front of Naruto and Sakura. Tenten grabbed a scroll and opened it. Several large shuriken flew towards Tadao. Tadao dodged and pulled back an arrow.

"See you all in Hell." he whispered releasing the arrow

As the arrow flew the strange markings started to glow. The head of the arrow opened and several senbon flew out, all with explosive tags. Shikamaru formed a hand sign. Shadows flew from the ground and grabbed the senbon in mid-air. Tadao smiled a bit. The senbon exploded forcing Shikamaru and the other back slightly.

"I need to find my sister and then we can get going. I'll see you soon." he yelled, "We'll be back though."

He disappeared underground just in time as Tenten threw several kunai. Tenten and Shikamaru turned and faced Sakura and Naruto. They looked down at the two with worried expressions on their faces. What had happened?

"Hurry and find Kakashi-sensei and his group." Sakura said holding back tears, "Naruto is in a lot of trouble."

They nodded and Tenten jumped off while Shikamaru stayed with them. He was a bit worried about what happened and began to ask Sakura about what happened.

Kakashi along with his semi-healed group and the rest ran towards where he saw the last big explosion. As they ran though, they almost bumped into Tenten.

"Tenten what is it?" Kakashi asked sensing something wrong

"Naruto is severely injured." she managed to say breathing heavily, "Same with Shikamaru."

They nodded and ran with Tenten as fast as they could.

_**Naruto**_

Tadao emerged from the ground looking around. He had sensed his sister's chakra. He had a really bad feeling about what had happened. Blood was spattered around the trees and the ground. He turned a bit and heard a pained whisper.

"Tadao."

He found what he had been looking for. The only thing was he knew she wasn't going to be healed. The wounds were fatal. No medical training would work on her. He felt tears burn at his eyes.

"Masuyo." he said, "No I can't believe it."

"They were strong opponents. You need to get out of here now. I don't want to see you die. I love you now please leave"

"You're not going to die now come on lets go. Where do I go though? I have no where else to go if you die." he said letting a few tears fall

"I'm going to die my brother. I love you so much and I'll miss you. Now listen closely you need to get to the sound and stay safe." she said in a pained whisper, "Understand?"

He nodded and watched her head go limp. He gave her a kiss on the forehead and jumped away.

_**Naruto**_

Tenten arrived with the others shortly after meeting up with them. Sakura was next to Naruto who seemed fine but was bleeding badly from several different wounds. Shizune ran over and began to heal the various wounds.

"Shizune-san, Naruto was poisoned by something." Sakura mumbled

"Don't worry Sakura we'll have Tsunade look at it." Shizune said, "He'll be fine."

Sakura nodded and shut her eyes. She was tired from the battle and needed some rest. That was the last thing she remembered.

**I'm very sorry for being really late. School work has been challenging along with sudden writers block, so I'm having a hard time with chapters. I will have one late on Sunday. Thanks for understanding!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Ok so chapter 9 is up which should mark the end of part one of the story. This chapter is sort of the borderline between the two. In part two some more action occurs. Don't want to give away too much of the story. Well anyways thanks and I hope you enjoy the read! **

**Chapter 9 **

Sakura woke up about two hours later. She looked around her hospital room noticing the IV in her arm. She looked out the window and noticed how dark it was. It must have been a long battle that they fought. She turned and noticed Tsunade was sitting on a chair with an odd look on her face. Tsunade slowly turned and saw Sakura was awake.

"Sakura", Tsunade said smiling slightly, "you had me very worried."

"I'm fine Tsunade-sama." she mumbled sounding very tired, "How is Naruto? Is he ok?"

Tsunade didn't say anything. She seemed to look down at the ground. Sakura noticed instantly and felt like something was off.

"Tsunade-sama what happened?" she asked a bit louder

"He's in critical condition. He has been vomiting a lot. We have IVs in him trying to keep him hydrated. His condition went downhill an hour ago." Tsunade mumbled sadly, "I came here to take a break from trying to help him. There seems to be a poison inside him I haven't even come across."

"What?" Sakura asked in disbelief

"He's been bleeding from his nose almost like a hemorrhage. We've got a sample of his blood and I'm going to analyze it instantly. My top medics are working on searching for the toxin in his system. When we find it I'll heal him or find a cure."

"Can I see him please? I am a medic in the hospital." Sakura said starting to get out

"Sakura I'll let you see him but then you have to go back to your room ok."

Sakura nodded and began to get up. Tsunade went over to her and helped her up. Tsunade then took out the IV and helped Sakura up a bit more. They both began to walk towards the door but stopped as they heard a person walking very fast. The door to Sakura's room opened to reveal Shizune who looked a bit shaken.

"What is it Shizune?" Tsunade asked a bit concerned

"Tsunade-sama may I speak to you quietly, real fast?" Shizune asked trying to change the shaken look to a happier one after seeing Sakura

Tsunade walked out of the room with Shizune leaving Sakura alone. Sakura though was a bit curious. She walked slowly to the door and placed her ear to it. She focused as much chakra as she could to hear the conversation.

"Tsunade-sama he seems unable to move and complains of a severe headache. We gave him something to stop the pain, but it didn't help that much. Then just a few minutes ago he well um." Shizune stopped

"What is it Shizune, spit it out now"

"He began to start coughing up blood. I haven't seen a perfectly healthy person just do that. It was just so horrible. Whatever this poison is, we need to stop it. I don't know what to do. I came here to ask you if you've heard of this poison at all." Shizune mumbled, "Do you recognize the symptoms?"

"If I knew what this poison was I would have done something Shizune!" Tsunade asked slightly louder, "I don't know a poison that acts so quickly with such symptoms. Now I need you to give me constant hourly reports. I also need a sample of his blood analyzed as soon as possible."

"We have a sample of his blood. We haven't checked it over completely, but we are noticing something." Shizune replied taking out a sample of blood, "The Kyubi doesn't seem to be help curing the poison. It is just healing the constant damage. We are hoping at one point that it does something to build a resistance. I hope it can for his sake."

"I'll take a look a better look at the blood immediately. Take Sakura to see Naruto." Tsunade said a bit shaken, "I'm going to my special lab area. I'll find a cure to help him. Hopefully I can find out what it is."

"Oh, and one more thing concerning Sasuke Uchiha." Shizune said, "Someone infiltrated the hospital and was able to remove his eyes."

Tsunade just seemed to take a long deep breath. Sakura thought she heard her curse.

"I'm going Shizune now take Sakura to see Naruto." Tsunade said angrily, "I want Anbu to investigate what happened immediately."

Sakura heard the knob turn and she immediately jumped away. She felt her heart sinking to here Naruto was in that much pain. She just thought that her master would be able to save him.

"Ok Sakura", Shizune said walking into the room, "I'm going to take you to Naruto but don't be afraid at what you see, ok?"

Sakura nodded and followed Shizune towards the critical condition section of the hospital. The two continued to walk passing rooms with shinobi who were in horrible conditions from different missions. Sakura felt a wave of uneasiness from the room the two stopped at.

"Ok get ready Sakura." Shizune said opening the door

Sakura gasped as she walked into the room. Naruto was lying down on the hospital bed with blood running down his nose. An IV with blood was connected into his vein. He was pale and under his eyes was a black and blue color. His eyes were half lidded and he had blood running down the side of his mouth. There were two buckets. One was red the other was blue. Sakura walked closer towards him and looked inside the buckets. One contained vomit while the other contained some blood. A nurse was next to him wiping away the blood that fell.

"Oh my god Naruto." Sakura whispered walking towards him

He turned his head slightly and looked at Sakura. He smiled slightly but it was halted by a coughing fit. The nurse ran over and grabbed one of the buckets. He stopped though before he vomited.

"I think we should go." the nurse said to Shizune, "Let them have a bit of time together. Just in case something does happen we'll be right here, and Sakura is a trained medic."

Shizune nodded and walked out with the nurse. Sakura walked closer to Naruto. Naruto turned back to her and she smiled. She placed a hand to his temple and her hand was wrapped with emerald chakra. She was hoping this would decrease the headache.

"Sakura-chan", Naruto said in slight whisper, "I hope you're ok."

"How Naruto, how can you care about me when look at you." Sakura said sadly, "How can you be concerned with me?"

Then it hit her hard. He really loved her. He loved her more than himself and would do anything for her. If it weren't for him then she would be like him right now. Tears began to sting at her eyes and she started running his hair.

"Stop crying Sakura-chan please. You know baa-chan will find a cure and then everything will be fine." Naruto whispered trying to smile

"Naruto it isn't that. I'm just so scared for you. Look at you! I can't do anything but sit here and watch you suffer. You saved me from this and now look!" Sakura yelled allowing tears to fall freely, "Now look at you. You don't deserve this. I'm sorry Naruto, I'm so sorry."

Naruto looked at her with an expression that was hard to make out, "Sakura-chan I would do anything for you to make you happy or keep you safe. I hope you know that."

"I do Naruto I really do." she said holding his hand and crying a bit more, "I'm sorry Naruto, I'm so sorry. I love you so much more than you can possibly imagine."

"I'm glad to hear you say that Sakura-chan." Naruto mumbled, "I love you too."

Sakura didn't respond she just sat on a chair holding his hand and stroking his hair.

_**Naruto**_

Tadao slowly walked into the hidden sound village. A look of pure dread was on his face. He allowed his Akatsuki robe to slip off of him. Some sound ninja looked at him oddly.

"I take it you failed to capture the nine-tails." Zetsu said appearing behind him

He didn't answer he just nodded. Zetsu looked at him realizing his sister wasn't there. Zetsu knew she was probably dead right now so didn't say anything. He just allowed Tadao to slowly walk off towards the nearest bar.

Madara stood in a large room looking out the window. Zetsu slowly emerged behind him and Madara turned.

"He failed didn't he?" Madara asked

"He did and his sister is dead." Zetsu said, "**On the brighter side, we have Sasuke's eyes.**"

Madara smiled underneath his mask. It was true. Madara had Sasuke's eyes and now nothing could stop him. He would now have something even stronger than the eternal mangekyou sharingan.

_**Naruto **_

Tsunade sat in her lab and looked under the microscope in her lab. She had a book of all of the poisons she had ever seen. This substance didn't match up with any of the lists she had. She began to slowly zoom in and noticed many different particles. Different elements were in it that could probably be used. She couldn't duplicate it and the way the poison looked it would be nearly impossible to make a cure.

'It seems the poison has many different elements. The only thing that stumps me is the particles in the poison. Each particle has a different genetic makeup. I can cure one particle but then there is another. This poison has something like a backup just in case.' Tsunade thought very annoyed, 'Maybe if I can find something similar in every cell I can create an antidote. If I can't then I'll just have to give up.'

Tsunade took a deep breath. Whatever had created this poison was amazing. The only person who could would probably be able to find a cure would be the creator of the poison him or herself. It would take a long time to find that one thing that each particle had in common.

"Tsunade-sama." Shizune said walking into the lab, "Have you found anything?"

"Yes but not anything good. Get me top medics to try and cure this poison." Tsunade said, "How is Naruto doing?"

"Not good", Shizune mumbled, "it appears that at the rate this poison is advancing it will attack and possibly kill him in about five days. That is what the other doctor said. The poison will slowly deactivate body functions and then launch an attack on the brain. Naruto seems to just be experiencing the first phases. He may also die from hemorrhage if we hadn't given him the constant blood transfusions"

Tsunade took a deep breath after hearing that. She was shocked to hear that Naruto if not cured within five days would die. Shizune watched Tsunade put a hand to her chest.

"Shizune get me as many of our medics as we can and fast." Tsunade commanded,

Shizune nodded and raced off as quickly as she could. Tsunade had a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach. She could only pray that the doctor was wrong and he would still live. She couldn't think of the future. She needed to think of now and how to cure the one she thought of as a soon.

_**Naruto **_

Sakura gave Naruto a kiss on his forehead and allowed him to drift to sleep. She walked out of the room slowly and looked around. Shizune was no where to be seen and the hospital was oddly quiet. She slowly walked down the hallway passing several nurses. She turned the corner to see Tsunade with Shizune and three of the best medic ninja she had met.

"Tsunade-sama what is going on?"

"I'll tell her." Tsunade said to Shizune, "You guys go get some more samples."

They nodded and walked towards Naruto's room. Tsunade made her way towards her apprentice and put a hand on her shoulder. Sakura gulped slightly as her master looked at her with a serious look.

"We have reason to believe that Naruto may die in five days." Tsunade said as calmly as possible, "The poison will kill him in five days if he is not cured."

"I can't believe that. Naruto won't die he can't die. He's survived much harder challenges!" Sakura yelled confessed, "Can't you come up with a cure?"

"We will try to find a cure Sakura but that poison is much more complex then we originally thought. There are particles each with a different set of genetic makeup in them. Even if we eliminated one, we can't cure all of them. The ones we can't cure will just kill him anyway. We are hoping that we can find one chemical that is the same in each particle. That should make our jobs easier." Tsunade said smiling, "Nothing to worry about!"

Sakura couldn't believe what she had heard. She needed to do something. She needed to find something out and help him. She hated always being so useless.

"Tsunade-sama tell me what I can do to help him." Sakura demanded

"You can rest and get back to your normal strength. Then just keep visiting him. Show him your support and then everything will be fine." Tsunade reassured

Sakura nodded and began to walk away. She had to admit she was a nervous wreck. She could only pray that Tsunade would be able to cure her friend before it was too late.

**Thanks everyone for reading and understanding the late updates. I'll give more details next chapter on everything. Thanks! **


	10. Chapter 10

**Thanks for continuing with this read. Nothing much will happen in this chapter. There will be some important events though that will later be important in the story. Thanks! **

**Chapter 10: **

Tsunade watched as Sakura headed back for her hospital room. Kakashi and the others were also in the hospital dealing with the minor injuries they had. She took a deep breath and made her way into the blonde's hospital room. Doctors were surrounding him taking blood samples and placing them on scrolls. Shizune was trying different antidotes on them with no luck.

"We shouldn't be going to that resort yet." Tsunade said, "We still need to find what exactly is causing this. Get me a couple microscopes. I'm going to take another look. We need to find what exactly this thing is."

A nurse nodded and ran off to find a microscope. Tsunade turned back around and looked at the blond. He was sleeping still but it looked like he was in a lot of pain. She turned to face Shizune who was looking a bit nervous. It was officially day five still and would end tomorrow. The nurse came back in with a couple microscopes.

"Now get me that medical fluid I'm going to try and remove the toxins from his body." Tsunade said, "Now when I begin I want you to hold him down. This should help."

They nodded and the nurse ran off once again to get what Tsunade requested. Tsunade was a bit nervous though. This may or may not work. If she didn't remove all of it then he would still be infected. They would be back at square one.

_**Naruto **_

Sakura walked down the hallway very slowly. She was still a bit shocked but knew that her master could save Naruto. As she walked down the hallway she bumped into her sensei who still hadn't put his mask on.

"Kakashi-sensei", Sakura mumbled, "are you ok?"

"Yeah I'm fine Sakura; I just need a new mask that's all." Kakashi replied realizing she didn't make a comment or anything about the absence of his mask

"Ok Kakashi-sensei."

"Sakura what is the matter?"

Sakura just looked at him for about five minutes without saying anything.

"What is the matter Sakura? I'm your sensei so you can trust me."

"Let me just say Naruto was poisoned on our mission. If Tsunade-sama doesn't find a cure he'll die."

Kakashi widened his eyes for a little. He hadn't suspected that.

"Don't worry Sakura he'll be fine." Kakashi said staying calm

"I hope you're right Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi nodded and began to walk off. Sakura smiled hoping that he was right. Naruto would be fine and back to himself in no time. Then everything would be fine and the two of them could be together.

_**Naruto**_

Tsunade placed her hands in the liquid. The doctors each placed a hand on Naruto's limbs to keep him down. He was still sleeping but they knew he would wake up in a second. Tsunade removed her hands from the liquid. She was holding a large portion of the liquid in her hands. She placed it into his stomach. Naruto's eyes shot open and he began to struggle. He tried to break free from the doctors' grasps.

"Hold him down." Shizune commanded

"I have something." Tsunade said pulled out the liquid

The entire room seemed to just gasp as the liquid came into sight. The entire inside had red liquid. The only thing inside the liquid was blood. Tsunade quickly placed it into another bowl. There must be some form of internal bleeding. She would heal that with her chakra.

"It didn't work did it?" Shizune asked

"I'm not sure." Tsunade mumbled

Naruto began to cough. A nurse grabbed a bucket and Naruto coughed out pure blood. A dark red color meaning it was fresh. Tsunade cringed as she looked at it. Though she mostly got over her fear of blood it was still there. She turned away and watched Naruto slowly put his head back on the pillow.

"What the hell happened?" asked one of the doctors

"I don't know." Tsunade admitted, "Take the blood I extracted and look at it under a microscope."

The doctor nodded and took a sample of the blood. Tsunade walked back over to Naruto and placed her hand on his stomach. Emerald chakra covered her hand and began to heal any hurt areas of his body. She made sure that it was at her strongest to heal any internal bleeding. She also wanted him to feel better.

"It hurts baa-chan." he mumbled

"Don't worry Naruto we'll make everything better ok." she reassured hoping she was right as she strengthened he medical ninjutsu

His eyes closed and he seemed to fall back into a restless sleep. Tsunade turned to the doctors who seemed a bit shaken. She looked at them strangely and they motioned her to take a look under the microscope. Tsunade took a look at the blood she had just extracted. She was confused at what she saw. The blood cells seemed to be discolored by something green.

"What is this?" she asked

"It appears that the poison has somehow mixed in with his blood cells." a doctor said, "It may explain why the Kyubi can't heal him. If it tried then it would be forced to attack his own cells causing further damage. The poison or whatever this is seems to have attached themselves to his blood cells. That means…"

"I know what it means!" Tsunade yelled at the doctor who was now a bit afraid, "We can't extract the poison as easily as we thought. The only way to keep him alive is to find the cure! We need to start immediately looking for the similarity in the different particles in the poison. If we can't, he's as good as dead."

They nodded instantly fearing Tsunade would kill them if they didn't start working harder. Tsunade put her hands to her face. This poison was much more advanced then any other poison she had seen. It had too many backups and acted almost more like a virus than a poison.

"Can I trust you people to try and develop some form of cure for this right now?" Tsunade asked, "I need to do something."

"You can trust us Tsunade-sama." a doctor said, "We'll begin taking blood samples and checking more data."

Tsunade nodded and left the room. The doctors including Shizune turned and faced each other.

"I'm not sure that we can cure him." a doctor mumbled, "This poison is just amazing. It had put up so many stops and blocks disabling us to find a cure."

"We can't let Lady Tsunade hear this." Shizune mumbled, "I know the odds against us are extremely high but maybe we can find a cure."

They nodded and immediately got to work.

_**Naruto **_

Sakura was lying in her bed just thinking. She knew this wasn't happening. It was a nightmare nothing more nothing less. She would wake up and be sitting in her home getting ready to go get ramen with Naruto.

"I'm so damn weak aren't I?" she mumbled to herself, "I should've dodged. I should've jumped out of the way."

There was the sound of her doorknob turning and she looked to see Tsunade. What did she want? Sakura was starting to get annoyed with the constant visiting.

"Tsunade-sama what is it now?" Sakura asked

"I'm sorry I keep visiting you." Tsunade mumbled, "I just keep bringing bad news don't I? Well get ready for this one. The chances are getting a bit lower. That doesn't mean we can't sure him, but it may be a bit harder than expected."

Sakura just looked at her a bit confused, "What do you mean?"

"This poison doesn't act like a normal poison. It seems to have combined with Naruto's blood cells making it harder to extract." Tsunade mumbled, "I just wish we had the original creator of this poison. That person should be able to tell us how to cure it."

Sakura suddenly began to think of that Akatsuki member. The kunai, the different poison's he used, when he said something about a cave in the sound. All different things about him and how he said things flooded her mind. He was the creator and probably knew the cure.

"Sakura are you ok?" Tsunade asked

"I know what I have to do." Sakura replied

Tsunade looked at her a bit worried but shook it off.

"I want you to rest ok. You can visit Naruto in an hour. We will be leaving the room for a break at that time. Try and get some rest ok." Tsunade said putting a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder

Sakura nodded and watched as Tsunade left the room.

'I'm going to save Naruto I promise.' she thought to herself getting up

She ran towards the door and opened it. She looked around for Tsunade and crept out. She walked down the hallway very slow. She was still in her hospital gown but didn't care. She formed a hand sign. Tsunade had taught her this jutsu a long time ago for an escape. It only worked for a matter of minutes, but that was enough. She became invisible, and she quickly walked out the front of the hospital. Once out of the hospital she undid her jutsu and ran towards her house.

'I better get ready.' she thought running

She knew that what she was planning was crazy but she needed to do it. If she didn't she could loose her best friend. She was pretty much the only one on the street. It was dark and by the time she reached her house the lights were off.

"Why does mom always have to go to bed so early?" she mumbled putting her finger to the doorbell because she left her keys inside

Sakura waited for about ten minutes before the door finally opened. Her mom was wearing a long bathrobe and was rubbing her eyes. She must have been sleeping for a long time.

"Is that you Sakura?" she asked smiling and pulling her daughter into a hug, "I thought it was some jerk who was trying to sell me stuff again. That is why I took so long. Aren't you supposed to be in the hospital? Oh god I should have visited, but Hokage-sama told me you needed rest."

"Mom its ok, I'm fine." Sakura replied slightly smiling, "I need to get some things then I'm going back to the hospital."

"You had me so worried you know that?" her mother said, "Now please take it easy and get back to the hospital soon. I don't want you to get in trouble with our Hokage ok."

"Ok mom, don't worry. I need to go to my room now"

Her mother nodded and allowed her daughter to run into her room. Sakura quickly looked around and grabbed her ninja gear. She changed out of her hospital gown and into her normal ninja attire. She put a couple scrolls in a bag and grabbed her weapon holder. She ran back downstairs and gave her mother a kiss goodbye before running out the door. She knew that by the time she got back she could visit Naruto alone.

_**Naruto**_

Tsunade allowed the others doctor to leave the room where Naruto was. They had done some more research but it wasn't helping. It would take much more than five days to undo this poison. Tsunade walked up to Naruto and stroked his hair. She wasn't going to let another one that she loved more than anything die.

"Baa-chan is everything ok?" he asked surprising the Hokage

"Naruto don't worry ok. I'm sure you'll be fine. We have our best team of medics working on a cure." Tsunade said looking him in the eyes, "You'll be fine."

Tsunade hated telling him lies. She could only hope he would be fine. Naruto seemed to pick up on this and looked at her as if saying he doubted her.

"Good night Naruto." she said leaving the room and turning the lights off

Naruto just nodded and was resting. His body felt like it was on fire and his headache had gotten slightly worse. If he had to cough up blood he just had to sit up and turn his head slightly. They had placed the buckets closer to him. There were also nurses in the halls. Suddenly he heard the doorknob begin to turn. The door opened and Sakura walked in.

"Sakura-chan", he said smiling, "I was starting to miss you"

"Same here Naruto." she replied sitting down on a chair next to him, "Here give me your hand."

He lifted his hand and she held it in her lap. She slowly started rubbing it trying to massage it. Naruto smiled slightly obviously enjoying it. Sakura looked at him and noticed what had happened to him. Even in the moonlight she could tell he was like a dead version of himself. He had already lost his tan and was very pale and he was cold. His hand was so cold it was weird. Whatever this poison was it was slowly but surely killing him.

"Naruto this is going to pinch." Sakura said suddenly taking a blood sample

Naruto nodded and watched as she took five blood samples. He was about to ask what she needed them for but decided against it.

"Sakura-chan I'm actually afraid." he said as calmly as he could, "I didn't want to tell baa-chan but I'm afraid."

"You can be Naruto." Sakura replied, "It is perfectly ok."

"I should be stronger", he said, "I really wish I could leave this damn hospital room. I really want so ramen right now. I hate being here. I've never liked hospitals."

"Naruto", she mumbled with tears in her eyes, 'you'll be fine, ok?"

"You really think baa-chan can find a cure?"

"Naruto I don't know, but I will find a cure." Sakura said confidently, "You really don't know how much you really mean to me Naruto. I'm not going to let you die."

"Sakura-chan what do you mean you will find a cure? I know you're really good with medical ninjutsu but even baa-chan is having trouble."

"I'm going by myself to find that Akatsuki member who poisoned you. I'm going to get a cure from him no matter what I have to do", Sakura replied, "I know you don't believe me Naruto but I really do love you. Without you I'd be nothing. You were always the one who comforted me whenever I was feeling really bad. You helped me so much through my life that I'd gladly give mine to help you."

"Sakura-chan stop this. I don't know what you are planning on doing, but it sounds too dangerous. Baa-chan will find a cure and then everything will be fine. Don't risk your life ok. If I make it through and you got hurt or killed I couldn't live with myself. Please don't do this Sakura-chan whatever you are thinking about."

"You already fulfilled your promise to me. You saved me from that poison by sacrificing yourself. Though you may not think so Naruto, I love you now as much as I once did Sasuke, even more actually much more. I want to prove to you that I do love you like I say I love you. I don't want you to think that I'm just lying, I'm telling the truth"

"You being here is enough proof, Sakura-chan!" Naruto replied, "Please just stay here. I really don't want you to go."

"Naruto I'm leaving tonight for the sound village. I need to get that cure for you no matter what. I want to prove to you how much I care about you. That was my promise to you Naruto and I'm going to fulfill it." Sakura said giving him a comforting smile

"I won't let you Sakura-chan. What if the man who poisoned me isn't there! If you go I will personally stop you. I'll get baa-chan, Kakashi-sensei anybody to stop you." Naruto warned, "I can't let you."

"I want you to trust me Naruto." she said, 'I promise you I will be back and I will save you. You have to promise me though that you will take me out somewhere, anywhere. You have to tell me that you trust me."

"I promise Sakura-chan, and I trust you." he said defeated, "Be careful Sakura-chan, please be careful." Naruto said

"Don't worry Naruto-kun. I'll get you back to your normal self very soon." Sakura said smiling

Naruto was shocked she had called him 'Naruto-kun'. The thing that surprised him the most was when she bent down and gave him a kiss directly on the lips. He was too shocked to even really kiss back. That inability stopped soon though and he returned the kiss. At least a minute past, before Sakura forced herself to pull away. He looked back up at her and smiled. He couldn't really say anything.

"I'll see you real soon Naruto-kun." she said blushing slightly

Naruto was blushing as well. He only nodded and smiled at her. He still couldn't say anything. He could only let go of her hand and watch her leave the room.

"I love you Sakura-chan." he mumbled, "I hope you stay safe."

Sakura had begun to run through the village. She had to get to the sound and fast. It would take her a day to get to the sound. That was why she had to pick up the pace.

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for waiting, but I hope to update quicker. Thank you once again!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Once again hi everyone! Chapter 11 is going to take place the next day during daylight hours. Sakura should manage to make it to the sound and a bunch of other things. Thanks for reading!**

**Chapter 11: **

Sakura, though pretty tired, continued jumping from tree to tree. The sun was beating down on her hard, and she knew it would be a bit more before she reached the Sound. The only thing keeping her going was the thought of saving Naruto. She quickly reached into her pocket and took put a food pill. She swallowed it increasing her speed slightly.

'Since it is about noon I should be there maybe in six hours hopefully. If not probably eight or ten.' she thought trying to increase her speed

She wasn't going to be weak this time. She would get in and out. She would do anything to get that antidote. Her first priority should be to find that Akatsuki member. If she did it could make everything much easier.

_**Naruto**_

"Where is Sakura?" Tsunade asked Naruto, "I know you aren't doing well, but I'm pretty sure you can tell me where she was. This was the last place she was known to be."

Naruto didn't answer. He knew he should be he knew how determined she was.

"Naruto I demand an answer right now! This is an order from the Hokage." she said in a very demanding tone

"Tsunade-sama stop for now." Shizune said placing a hand on her master's shoulder, "He'll tell us I'm sure but not now. We need to find the cure now."

As she said this Naruto began coughing once again. A nurse came by with one of the buckets. Dark red liquid was released from his mouth. Naruto stopped coughing and took in a deep breath, trying to enjoy the small amounts of rest he could get.

"His condition is getting worse." a doctor said as a nurse gave Naruto a glass of water

"What do you mean?" Tsunade asked

"The fever went up and it looks like he is coughing more blood. He also seems to be getting dehydrated." the doctor replied

"I've began to test different antidotes on his blood hoping the poison will disappear off the red blood cells." another doctor said, "It isn't working."

"Have we identified the one similarity in all of the different particles? Remember if we can do that we can find a cure much faster. It will able us to slowly breakdown the proteins, and in turn break down the poison." Tsunade said, "Nurse, get a cold pack and place it on his forehead. Try to keep him cool."

The nurse nodded and ran off. Tsunade turned back to Naruto. She gave him a death look which made the blond turn away in fear.

"Naruto tell me where in the world Sakura is. I don't care if you're in this state I will get that answer out of you one way or another." Tsunade warned

"Sakura-chan wants me to trust her." Naruto said in a weak voice, "I promised I would trust her."

"Naruto." she mumbled angrily. Tsunade then began to think deeply on the matter.

If Sakura did what she was starting to think she did it could be bad. Sakura could possibly get killed. If she was going to loose Naruto she couldn't loose Sakura too.

"Naruto please just tell me. I need to know." Tsunade said pleading with the blond

Naruto couldn't help it. Tsunade looked so hurt. He gave up and began to tell her in that same weak voice, "Fine baa-chan but please tell her I'm only doing this because you wanted me to. Sakura-chan is going to the Sound to try and find a cure for me."

"No." Tsunade whispered taking a deep breath. She then faced Naruto, "Naruto you don't have to talk now. Try to relax."

"Tsunade-sama what's the matter?"

"Get me three Anbu, Shizune, and send them after Sakura. She is heading towards the Sound village. They should be able to get her back." Tsunade said

Shizune nodded and ran out of the room. Tsunade turned back to Naruto. She suddenly realized that he was going to die if she didn't do something. That thought alone wanted to make her cry. She turned back to her work and started to try and find a cure.

_**Naruto**_

Sakura watched the terrain around her being to change. The forest ended and there was a large field. Next to the field there was a small town. She was hungry so it would be perfect for a quick snack. She also knew it would be better if she wasn't hungry. She wouldn't be any help if she had no energy. She could probably get some info too. The kunochi knew she had reached enemy territory. It had been about another hour before she reached this place.

'Another couple hours.' she thought, 'I'll be there soon.'

She didn't want to but she took her leaf head band and hid it. If an enemy saw it she would instantly be killed. She began walking not running, through the field so she didn't alert attention. The weather was perfect for one of these travels. There was no rain and no clouds. There was a light breeze once in awhile, but Sakura knew she wasn't here to enjoy the weather. She had a mission to complete. She quickly neared the town and walked through the gates.

'It isn't like Konoha.' Sakura thought looking around, 'Hardly anyone is out and it is just too quiet.'

She neared where she thought looked like a small stand for food. She walked in and sat down at one of the booths similar to Ichiraku's. She took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. Why did so many things have to happen so fast? It just seemed odd to her. A large man turned and faced her. He was pretty large, and he looked very old and tired.

"What will you be having today?" he asked in a calm but pleasant voice

"What exactly do you serve?" Sakura asked

"We have all different kinds of ramen." he replied noticing the pained look on Sakura's face, "Something wrong?"

"I'm fine sir." Sakura quickly replied trying to hide the pained expression she had on, "I'll have the miso-ramen sir."

He nodded and gave her a questioning look. He turned around and started to cook. Sakura took a deep breath. She couldn't catch a break. The last time she had ramen was with naruto before this turn of events.

"You aren't from around here, are you?" he asked still cooking

"I'm a traveler from around the world." Sakura said randomly hoping he would buy it

"Then why come here? This nation is in chaos. We were just starting to get peace after Orochimaru was killed. Then the Akatsuki came and the Sound ninja decided to allow them to rule."

"Really, that isn't good. Have you seen the Sound village since the Akatsuki took over?" Sakura asked hoping to find out how guarded it is

"I'm not sure but I've seen spies taken away from this very restaurant. They are relentless, and they will kill anyway who dare opposes them."

Sakura nodded and continued to eat her ramen. Judging by his description it seemed to be well guarded. Though he didn't say it directly it, he seemed to intend it would be a hassle to get in. Sakura decided not to think about it. She would let time take its course. She closed her eyes just to relax. She heard someone come in and turned around. She gulped as she saw two Sound ninja walk in. The chef gave them a look of disgust and turned away.

"We'll have the usual." one of them said

The other nodded and then the chef nodded. Sakura tensed up as they sat next to her. They both glared at her which in turn scared her slightly. Did they know she was a Konoha ninja? She could only pray they didn't. The two ninja turned away and began talking. Sakura instantly enhanced the chakra in her ear hoping to here the conversation.

"Did you hear about Tadao-sama?" one said, "He's just drinking after that mission. Madara-sama says if he doesn't shape up they'll kill him for failing."

Sakura gulped inwardly. If they killed him then there would be no hope. She continued to listen in hoping to gain more info.

"That was just a rumor, Madara-sama needs him since he lost most of the Akatsuki." the second one said, "Anyway Tadao-sama and I are pretty close. He'll be fine in no time."

The chef quickly placed the bowls of ramen by them. They began eating slowly. Sakura continued to listen in.

"Whatever you say", the first one said, "I doubt he'll be ok."

"It doesn't matter anyways. What was funny was when we were on guard duty. Those enemy ninja were so weak. They were leaf Anbu I think. They were easily taken out." the second one said smiling, "Didn't see it coming."

Sakura gulped slightly. Leaf Anbu were taken out. They must have come to find her maybe. They died trying to help her or bring her back. That meant Naruto must have told him. Once he was cured she would kill him. She laughed slightly at that thought. Going through all this just to kill him. Then she turned her attention on the two sound ninja. They knew something about Tadao and she did need answers.

"You two seem to know a lot about Tadao." Sakura said shocking the two sound ninja

"Why do you care?" one of them asked, "Why were you eavesdropping?"

"I think we can consider that treason." the other said taking out a kunai

Sakura suddenly realized the kunai was being raised. He was going to kill her wasn't he? As the kunai came down she heard the sound of metal hitting together. She looked up to see the chef standing there holding a kunai protecting her. The other sound ninja looked slightly shocked, but not as shocked as he was when Sakura punched his friend into him. The two slammed into a wall and Sakura picked them both up and slammed them hard into the wall.

"What the hell is going on?" the one asked, "Who are you?"

"I'll be asking the questions." Sakura replied, "Where can I find Tadao? My friend was poisoned by him and I need a cure."

"We aren't telling you anything." the one said, "Go to hell."

"I'm warning you I will kill you both." Sakura threatened

"Tadao-sama is in one of the bars in the sound. It is the really big one with the shining lights. You shouldn't miss it." the second one said receiving a glare from his comrade, "It is near one of the large buildings with the Akatsuki cloud on it."

Sakura slammed them harder on the wall knocking both of them out. The chef smiled and she turned to face him.

"Thanks a lot." she said, "If it wasn't for you I'd be really hurt or imprisoned."

"No problem." he replied, "I can trust you right?"

Sakura nodded and he formed a hand sign. There was a poof and in front of her stood a ninja from the village hidden in the clouds.

"I'm here as a spy myself, and even though I hate the Leaf, we're allies right now." he said, "I've been here for awhile after the original chef closed shop. I reopened it, trapping Sound ninja for info. Now I'll tie these two up and take them for interrogation."

"Wait one second." Sakura said forming her own hand signs, "I'm just going to transform into one of them. I should be able to get in easier."

The other ninja nodded and Sakura formed a couple hand signs. Instantly she had transformed into one of the ninja.

"Thanks a lot for everything." Sakura said disguising her voice, "I need to get going."

The spy nodded and Sakura ran out hoping to reach the sound as soon as she could.

_**Naruto **_

A leaf ninja ran through the hospital. She needed to find Tsunade and fast. She had just gotten a signal from one of the Anbu that he was about to die. If those Anbu were dead they would need to send another team.

Tsunade was currently in the hospital room with Naruto. His condition had deteriorated, and the team of medical ninja still hadn't found anything. She was so frustrated and she knew the answer was in front of them.

"Tsunade-sama our Anbu team has been killed.", the female leaf ninja said walking in

"Just what I needed." Tsunade mumbled as Naruto started breathing heavily and coughing, "I want you to send Kakashi, Gai and any Anbu to find her."

The ninja nodded and ran off. Tsunade looked back down at Naruto. His eyes were shut tight and he was breathing heavily. His fever had gotten worse and he had begun to cough slightly more. The only thing keeping him alive was Tsunade and a special medical ninjutsu she used. He still had about four days left on this planet if they didn't find the cure. Tsunade took a deep breath and turned back to the medical team. They continued to struggle with the poison and the strange particles. She could only hope whatever cure they made would work.

_**Naruto **_

Day had turned to night almost instantly. Sakura was still transformed into the sound ninja. She had passed multiple towns along the way and knew she was getting closer. She was hoping about a half hour left in her trip. She had made perfect timing too. It had been at least a day since she left the village.

'I wish I knew how Naruto-kun was doing.' she thought as she jumped to another branch, 'I need to hurry up.'

She took her second food pill and jumped much faster than before. As she was jumping from branch to branch she could see lights shine in the distance. There was a lot of noise and she predicted it was from the village.

"You're late." a voice said causing Sakura to turn

"I'm sorry", Sakura/ Sound Ninja said, "I was held up."

"I was just joking." the man replied, "Here we're almost at the village gates."

Sakura/Sound Ninja nodded and jumped along with the man. They quickly neared the large gates. It had a red cloud representing the Akatsuki and the sound symbol. Sakura gulped realizing there was no turning back once she walked in.

"Ok we're here." the man said raising his arm above his head

It seemed almost like a signal and the gates opened. Sakura quickly took a glance at the village. It was very large and there were a lot of people out. Sound ninja were on every corner. She was surprised to see so many people out. It was also very lit up. It was a huge city filled with life. The only thing was, it felt like it was lifeless. It gave a very dark and cold feeling.

"I'll be going now." the other sound ninja said jumping away, "Ill see you for diner tomorrow with our superiors."

Sakura/Sound Ninja nodded and watched as the other ninja jumped off. Sakura knew what she needed to do now. She quickly started walking through the crowds until she found an alleyway. She undid her transformation and stepped out. She began to walk through one of the crowds.

'A large shining bar, right next to the large building with the Akatsuki cloud on it.' Sakura thought pushing her way past the wave of people

"Where are you going to be in such a rush?" an old lady asked as Sakura pushed her out of the way

"I'm sorry." Sakura said turning, "It's an emergency though."

"Come with me." the old lady said grabbing her hand and pulling her out of the way of the crowd

"Let go of me." Sakura said trying to pull away but with no luck

"It isn't nice to push people. Weren't you taught anything? Now tell me where you are going because you seem lost." the woman said

"I sort of am." Sakura admitted, "Can you help me find that really large bar. I've heard people talk about it and I thought I would check it out"

"Aren't you to young to drink?" the old woman asked, "Now if you really want to know I'll tell you. You need to do something for me though."

"I'll do anything." Sakura said, "Just tell me and I'll do it."

"Fine then, I can tell you are a medical ninja," the old woman said smiling

"How in the world did you know?" Sakura asked worrying others may find out

"When you've been around this planet for so long you pick up on things. Now then if you cure this headache I've had for awhile I'll give you directions," the old woman said smiling wider

Sakura took a deep breath and placed her hand to the old woman's temple. Emerald chakra flowed out and the old woman closed her eyes seeming to enjoy it.

"Thank you very much." the old woman said thankfully, "Now then make a right at the end of that street. Then you should be able to see it. Next time don't push people around."

"Thanks very much." Sakura said smiling running

"Good kid." she mumbled to herself walking away

Sakura quickly did what the old woman told her to do. She saw the large bar and walked in. It smelt pretty bad, and the bartender was walking back and forth delivering large bottles of sake to different customers. Sakura walked through the large bar looking for the man she needed to find. She slowly made her way to the front and to her surprise found him sitting down with five large bottles of sake next to him empty. His head was down on the table. Sakura quickly made her way over and grabbed his shoulder. She propped him upright and slapped him hard across the face.

"Wh-what is going on?" he asked looking around in bewilderment

"You stupid drunk." Sakura murmured, "Get up."

He did as he was told and Sakura grabbed him, and pulled him out of the bar. She led him into an alleyway.

"What the hell is going on?" he asked looking down as Sakura, "Oh how are you pinky! Long time no see."

"You poisoned my best friend." she said angrily, "Give me the cure!"

"Funny thing about that, I don't have a cure." he said smiling, "Never thought I needed one!"

"I'm telling you to make me one." Sakura demanded

"Why should I?" he responded smiling

Sakura had enough with him. She grabbed him by his shirt and slammed him hard into the wall, "Now are you going to help me find a cure or not?"

"No I'm not. Let blonde boy die for all I care", he responded, "Why should I care about him? If he dies it will be the best thing that ever happened. Madara couldn't do his plan. Shouldn't you be happy if he died?"

"Happy if he died?" Sakura lost it, "How could I be happy if he died? He's my best friend and was always there for me! I love him a lot, and would do anything for him. I didn't jackass my way all the way here to be turned down by some Akatsuki failure! I'm not giving you the option about the cure. You will make it! I will deliver it and he'll be fine! Haven't you had anyone who you ever loved? How would it feel if that person died!"

Tadao looked at her a bit shocked. She was this serious about finding the cure.

"I've already felt that pain pinky." he mumbled with a pained smile, "I know how it feels to loose that person. I don't seem the type but I do have a heart for some things. I will help you find that cure, but not because I want to!"

Sakura looked at him with shock. Had he really just agreed to help her? She smiled and let him fall to the ground. He slowly got up and looked at her.

"Thank you so much for agreeing." she said

"You need to come with me so we can start. We will start tomorrow though."

"He only has a couple days left though." Sakura replied, "Tomorrow is day three which means he only has two days left."

"Don't worry we will find the cure tomorrow." Tadao replied

Tadao and Sakura began to walk towards his lab which was located close to the cave. Tadao just thought about what was going on in the cave. There was a lot of construction. Many ninja were coming in and out of that cave. He could only wonder what was going on.

**Thanks for reading. I hope you don't things are too rushed. Tell me what you think on the matter. Thanks for reading and all of the reviews! **


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello chapter 12 is up! I'm hoping you will all enjoy it. I'm very sorry for the late update. I feel really bad, but I'll make up for it! We are somewhat nearing the end. The story should have about four more chapters. Oh and don't forget to read the bottom note thanks! **

**Chapter 12: **

Sakura felt someone shaking her. She moved away trying to avoid the shaking. She only was shaken more by this unknown annoyance. She quickly rolled away hoping it would go away.

"Pinky get up!"

Sakura shot up from the bed she was sleeping in. She looked around rubbing her eyes viciously. She yawned and looked around and was blinded by the bright lights.

"Finally you're awake." Tadao mumbled wearing a brand new Akatsuki robe

"Where am I?" Sakura asked

"You're in my lab." he replied, "I put you on one of the cots. You pretty much passed out from exhaustion half way up the mountain. I had to carry you up here."

"Thanks I guess." she mumbled jumping off the cot

"Well judging on what you told me last night it would be the third day. Your friend has been officially poisoned for three days." Tadao said receiving a nod from Sakura, "He should be experiencing an increase in symptoms and maybe some other symptoms. Mostly likely he has a higher fever."

Sakura felt sick hearing this. Her best friend was currently in so much pain and she was sleeping. She shook her head getting rid of her guilty thoughts.

"So what's the plan?" Sakura asked finding her bag from under the cot

"We start breaking down this poison. I have some idea of how to find a cure." Tadao said

"I bought some things we've found in the leaf." Sakura said taking out the files from the bag, "I've also bought blood samples."

"The blood samples will help but the notes won't." Tadao said getting a confused look from Sakura, "My poison isn't as complicated as you make it out to be. It is really child's play once you find out its secret."

"I thought you said you weren't looking for a cure." Sakura responded

"That may be true, but I needed to find its weakness to make the poison less toxic." Tadao said, "I found many different problems in the poison that could lead to the cure. I used different techniques to change a lot about the poison. That being said those particles you're looking at are all just random materials I threw in there. You could try to get rid of those for days and you'd accomplish nothing. However if there is a slight chance you get past it, you'd be stuck on a new problem. That is what makes this poison hard to cure. The obvious is hiding under something that is even more obvious. Even after that it is still pretty annoying to cure, and by that time the victim should be dead."

"So what are we waiting for?" Sakura asked, "Let's start."

"Not so fast." Tadao replied, "You owe me something. After we find this cure I want you to promise me you won't fail in delivering it. Not because I care or anything, just because it is such a hassle to make and if you don't I've wasted a lot of time for nothing."

Sakura smiled, "I promise."

Tadao returned the smile and the two went into the main lab. Sakura looked around at the lab. There were medical plants growing in one corner while lab tables were set up on the other side. The room was mostly white and was well lit. There were multiple cabinets with drawers. Some drawers had marks on them and were locked. Different bugs were encased in jars labeled with different markings. She watched as Tadao reached into a container and pulled out gloves. He gave the pair to Sakura and took out another for himself. He then turned and walked towards a large vault. He pulled something out.

"This is the poison your friend is poisoned with." Tadao said, "I'm going to place it on the microscope here. I want you to take a look and tell me what you see."

"I don't think that we should be having a learning experience here." Sakura said, "My friend is dying and I need to hurry."

"What if this happens again? I'll be long gone and you won't be able to run to me for help. You need to learn." he said calmly

"What do you mean you will be long gone?" Sakura asked confused about his words

"Nothing just look and tell me what you see." Tadao said a bit irritated

Sakura took a look. She saw hundreds of small particles all bunched together. She looked up and faced Tadao.

"I see hundred of small particles", Sakura said, "nothing else really."

"As I said you people don't look hard enough." Tadao mumble, "Look closer. Zoom in."

Sakura zoomed in with the microscope and took a very close look. She still saw nothing.

"Nothing." she mumbled

"Don't look at the particles. Look at the stuff in between the particles." Tadao responded a bit annoyed

Sakura nodded and looked once again. She looked very hard. Then she noticed what Tadao had mentioned. There was a strange liquid running through the small gap where the particles weren't running. It was a clear liquid barely visible. Sakura now realized why Tsunade and the other doctors were fooled. They were too busy looking at the most obvious. Sakura could only think that Tsunade would at one point see this, but it would be too late.

"I see it, but what is it?" Sakura asked

"It happens to be the very thing that will help us find a cure." Tadao said

"Really?" Sakura asked, "How so?"

"In that liquid it holds the formula for the poison. That will provide us with what we need to find the cure." Tadao said smiling, "First we will need a sample of that liquid and then we can cure it."

Tadao turned towards one of the cabinets. He quickly unlocked it with a key, and took out a strange liquid and moved closer to a sample of the poison. Sakura watched as he placed a small amount of the liquid on the poison.

"This will help make the particles disappear. It is a very special liquid I developed for this poison in particular. It will make getting the substance much easier." Tadao said

Sakura nodded and placed an eye to the microscope. She watched as the particles started to fade away. It was odd watching that happen. She had never seen something like that. Tadao quickly placed the liquid in a small dish and placed it on a lab table.

"So what next?" Sakura asked, "Do we just cure it?"

"Not exactly pinky." Tadao replied, "I'll get a stronger microscope and then we can see what is in the real poison. Then we'll have a look at your friend's blood sample."

Sakura nodded and they got to work.

_**Naruto **_

Kakashi, Gai and an Anbu sat on a tree taking a rest. They had begun their search for Sakura. Tsunade had allowed them to leave today since Kakashi was still injured. Now he had to find Sakura before it was too late.

Naruto was lying on his bed in the hospital. The doctors had been running around with different reports and different samples of cures. Tsunade was nearly about to breakdown. There was just no hope it seemed. She was starting to hope Sakura may have found something.

"Tsunade-sama we may need to give up." Shizune said sadly, "He's suffering and I don't want to see that."

"So we just put him to sleep? Shizune he isn't an animal. He's a human being! We can still find a cure for him ok." Tsunade yelled, "How are you coming along with the research?"

"Nothing good", a doctor responded, "I'm just not finding anything with these particles."

'Damn it." Tsunade mumbled

She turned back to Naruto who was breathing heavily. His eyes were shut tight.

"Come on Naruto stay with us", she muttered, "I know you can"

Naruto rolled to one side of the bed. She felt her heartbreaking. Flashbacks of all the times she failed. First she had lost her little brother, then Dan and now Naruto. This boy before her had showed her something nobody had ever showed her. He had hope for her when she didn't have hope for herself. He proved to her that with a little hope anything was possible. Now she needed to have hope. The doctors had to have missed something. There was something there they couldn't see.

'I'm going to cure this poison no matter what.' Tsunade thought, 'I won't stop until it is done.'

_**Naruto **_

Sakura watched from underneath the microscope. The liquid was much more interesting then she could have imagined. There was another row of particles but they were different. She could tell from medical experience that this string of particles seemed to have some form of equation. That equation if broken down could bring about the cure.

Tadao and she were already six hours into the investigation. They had begun to cut down on the liquid hoping to find the different reactions inside of it. Everything mattered on those reactions. If they found it they cured the poison.

"Ok now for lesson two." Tadao said smiling, "This is also known as the headache."

"Great." Sakura mumbled

"We've been working for a long time. Now since we have gotten closer to breaking it down we do this part." Tadao continued, "Try and find the different chemical reactions inside the poison. To do this we will use many different liquids and other chemicals to find those reactions. Once we find what it reacts with we can identify the type of chemical element that acts as the poison's base. From there we can develop the cure. Let me give you this outlook on things. Once we find the reaction we will be able to tell what element is in the poison. Then from there with the identified element we can cure it easily."

Sakura nodded and watched as Tadao took out about twenty different liquids.

"Now you need to add a small amount to the poison. When the poison turns a bright green I believe we've found the right chemical reaction. Good luck pinky." Tadao said, "I need to start looking at your friend's blood."

Sakura nodded and began her attempts. She placed a small drop of poison on a small scroll. She took one of the twenty glasses and placed a small amount of the liquid in it on the poison. The poison didn't change color it remained the same.

'This will take forever.' Sakura thought trying with a different liquid

The poison turned a light green. Sakura smiled widely and turned to Tadao, "I think I've found it."

"No you haven't." Tadao responded, "Keep trying because there may be more than one reaction."

"Understood." Sakura replied

She began to try the different chemicals on the poison. More questions were building up in her head.

"Tadao why in the world are you in Akatsuki?" Sakura asked still trying the different chemicals

"I'm not very sure why." Tadao responded looking into a microscope, "Masuyo and I needed something to do I guess. We worked together very well, and the Akatsuki seemed perfect. We were only in the Akatsuki for a couple weeks before being sent after the nine-tails."

"His name is Naruto." Sakura said angrily, "How about you just quit the organization, and work for a nation. You'd be good in any medical field."

"I can't just quit. It isn't that simple. I want to trust you but I just can't." Tadao said looking up, "I'm wanted now in a lot of villages since I'm in the Akatsuki. I'm going to help you, and then I'm just going to disappear. I'll travel the world helping random people and start a new life."

"I guess you're right." Sakura said calmly, "I hated you so much for what you did."

"Don't lie to me." Tadao said, "You want me dead right now."

"Not as much as before you started doing this for me." Sakura replied. There was an odd silence that followed until Sakura broke it, "Naruto-kun is amazing much more amazing than you think. He can change people. He's changed me so much. I don't know why the Akatsuki just can't see him in that light."

Tadao nodded a bit sadly and placed a small sample of Naruto's blood on a scroll. He placed a different liquid on it and it and was happy with the results. The poison was quickly separating from his blood. That could make it easier to cure him.

"Ok pinky, I've developed something that will help separate his blood cells from the poison. That should make curing him less painful."

'Thanks a lot." Sakura said testing another compound on the poison

They continued their work in silence until hearing footsteps from outside. The door in the other room began to open slowly. Tadao and Sakura both gulped.

"Sakura go in another room and hide under a cot." Tadao said

Sakura ran into the other room and hid under one of the cots. She formed a hand sign and shifted into a blanket. Tadao watched as the door opened revealing a masked man.

"Madara-sama what a pleasure." Tadao said smiling

"I'm glad to see you up again. Now I need to talk to you about something." Madara said, "We've decided to make our plans go simpler, we will use your poison as a weapon."

"Oh great Madara-sama what an honor." Tadao said smiling

"I want you in the caves as soon as you're done with whatever this science experiment is. Help get as much of the poison as you can. Also get ready to transplant Sasuke's eyes. I have them inside my lab in the cave. We've really turned it into a large production plant." Madara said calmly

Tadao nodded and watched as Madara left. Tadao stomped his foot twice signaling Sakura. Sakura walked out a bit scared.

"What was it?"

"Nothing important but before you go we need to do something." Tadao said, "Maybe afterwards I'll get back to Konoha with you. I'll except my punishment from Konoha and give you any information on the Akatsuki that I possess."

Sakura nodded and began the rest of her experiments. She only had ten more compounds left.

It had been about another two hours. The day was almost over and Sakura had finished combing the different chemicals. In the end she was left with three liquids, glowing a bright green. Now she needed to find out which of these reactions were best to draw conclusions off of.

**Hi everyone sorry for the late update. So many things happened that I just lost track of writing. Yeah so I'm no scientist as you've seen, so if there is something wrong with my science in this chapter don't flame. Sorry if there was anything wrong though. Thanks! **


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter thirteen… wasn't really expecting this many chapters actually. Well anyway, chapter thirteen should start the ending. We aren't there yet but we're close enough. Thanks to everyone who had reviewed and put this story on their favs. Thanks! **

**P.S sorry for the late update (I've been saying that a lot!) so I'm going to update again on Sunday! **

**Chapter 13**

The third day was drawing to a closer. Sakura didn't really know what to do now. Three of the twenty liquids reacted with the poison. Tadao made his way over to Sakura and looked down.

"What do we do now?" Sakura asked

"I think we can find a cure." Tadao replied looking at the containers of the three liquids, "Judging on what reacted with poison makes sense. I think I know what the poison's base is."

"What do you mean by that?"

"The poison wouldn't be the poison it is, without the base. The base holds the poison together. If we takeout the base the poison becomes nothing." Tadao replied smiling slightly, "We just need to find out to breakdown the base."

"What is the base though?" Sakura asked

"For someone who cured Sasori's poison you seem very uninformed about poisons." Tadao said

"I'm tired from this whole ordeal so cut me some slack." Sakura responded a bit irritated

"Sorry for insulting your amazing skill." Tadao said smiling and then dodging a fist that went flying towards his face, "Well anyway, the poison reacts with the liquid chlorine. It also reacts with water. The third substance is a bit complicated but is good enough to lead me to this conclusion. That leads me to believe it's a sodium based poison."

"A sodium based poison?" Sakura asked, "That is what is doing all of this?"

"It may seem a bit odd, but other factors are in with it. If we breakdown the sodium the other poisonous factors should stop. We just need to breakdown the sodium and then we have pretty much found the cure." Tadao said smiling, "So we need to get to work."

Sakura nodded and the two began to get to work. Tadao had removed at least five different chemicals and had begun to mix them. Sakura was trying her own methods as well hoping to find something. Hours slowly were passing by and nothing was coming up. Day four was approaching soon, which wasn't good. She knew she would need to leave by day four to make it and give him the cure.

"I think I may have found something." Tadao said, "I'm not sure, but I have three possible cures."

"I've found two." Sakura said showing him a purple liquid and a green one

"Ok pinky now we're going to test each on the poison." Tadao said taking out five scrolls

He placed a bit of Naruto's blood on each. Sakura then watched as he took out the liquid to separate Naruto's blood cells from the poison. He placed a bit of it on each sample of blood. Sakura watched as green liquid with black dots began to move away from the blood sample. That green liquid was the poison, and Sakura was happy to see it worked.

"Now take a small amount of your antidote and put it on the poison." Tadao said calmly

Sakura nodded and placed the antidote on the poison. The scroll lit up and the poison began to burn. Sakura knew that her cure failed. Tadao then did the same with two of his. Both of them failed. Sakura was beginning to feel like they had lost the battle. She knew they still had two cures left. Tadao placed his last cure on another sample of the poison. Once again the scroll lit up indicating it had failed.

"Damn it." Tadao mumbled, "You try pinky."

Sakura nodded and placed her cure on the poison. Time seemed to slow down as the drop slowly descended. Sakura could hear her heart pounding in her chest. The small drop of the antidote hit the poison. Both Tadao and Sakura were watching closely. The poison started to sizzle slightly, and then slowly seemed to evaporate. The scroll didn't light up or anything.

"What's going on?" Sakura asked seeming to already know the answer. She just wanted to make sure

"You've found the cure." Tadao said looking carefully, "This is the cure to the poison."

Sakura felt a smile form on her face. The cure they really just had found it. She lost the feeling in her legs, and was caught by Tadao before she fell.

"Good job pinky." he said, "Now tell me everything that was in that antidote. We're going t make a lot more."

"Understood." Sakura said smiling as Tadao gave her a pen and paper

She wrote down each ingredient and Tadao looked over it.

"Ok then," Tadao said, "I'm going to make more. You should get to sleep before tomorrow. You'll probably be leaving and will need all the energy."

"Aren't you coming with me?" she asked

"No I need to take care of something." Tadao replied, "Something of dire importance."

"I'll help", Sakura said, "if it is that important."

"What about Naruto? He'll be very sick." Tadao asked a bit confused

"Then we'll have to make this quick. You seem really uneasy, and it feels like something is very wrong."

"Fine but this will be slightly dangerous. Get rest and we'll get this mission done very early in the morning ok." Tadao said, "Don't forget you promised me you'd get that cure to blonde boy."

Sakura nodded and walked quickly to a cot. She was very hopeful about the next day. The only thing she was confused about was what Tadao was planning. She took a deep breath and began to drift off to sleep.

_**Naruto **_

Tsunade had spent all night going over their information. She was worried about Sakura now. The team she sent still hadn't found her. Tsunade yawned, but was trying to stay awake. She currently had a list of every poison she knew about. She had a list of every cure she knew about. The thing was she couldn't find a thing.

"This is like looking for a needle in a haystack." she mumbled, "Maybe Sakura will get the cure. I should have more confidence in her."

She sipped a bottle of sake and began to flip through the pages. She was sitting in Naruto's room and was monitoring his condition. She knew day four was coming which could only mean he had about one full day left to live. Day five would end at about six o'clock pm. The thoughts raced through her head, but she was distracted by Naruto's coughing fit. His eyes shot open and Tsunade got up and raised one of the buckets. Tsunade watched as a dark crimson fell from his mouth. She turned away not wanting to watch anymore and waited. The coughing stopped and she placed the bucket down.

"I'm sorry baa-chan." Naruto whispered taking deep breaths

"You have nothing to be sorry about." Tsunade comforted sitting down on the bed. She took a small towel and wiped away some blood that was on the corners of his mouth

"I'm dying, aren't I?" Naruto asked a bit sadly

"Don't worry we won't let that happen." Tsunade said trying to hold back some tears

"Goodnight baa-chan." he whispered closing his eyes

"Goodnight Naruto." she whispered walking and sitting back in her chair

She slowly began reading over the text. She would find a cure no matter what.

_**Naruto**_

"Pinky wake up." Tadao said shaking the sleeping girl

"Wha-what?" Sakura asked

"You wanted to help me so now we begin." Tadao said, "I woke you up later than I wanted to. It is about five in the morning"

Sakura shot out of bed, "Ok so what do I have to do?"

"First of all I want to give you these." Tadao said revealing five antidotes, "This mission we are about to do will help you as well. It will get you a sample of the actual poison itself."

"Ok so let's go." Sakura said smiling

"Just wait", Tadao said, "I'll be right back."

Sakura nodded and watched Tadao walk into the other room. Sakura quickly packed up her bag getting ready to leave the sound.

Tadao grabbed a bag of his own and placed five scrolls inside it. Each scroll had at least one hundred paper bombs. His plan was simple. That cave was going to be destroyed so whatever Madara was planning would be stopped. Then he would leave with pinky and everything would be fine. That was what he wanted, but wasn't sure it was going to happen that way.

"Come on pinky lets go." he yelled

Sakura came out of the room she was in. She had her bag packed with the antidote and the sample to help separate the poison from Naruto's blood. She had also written down some important facts about the poison. Tadao began to walk out of the lab. She quickly followed him out happy to see the outside again. There were no windows or anything in the lab which made it feel like a prison to her.

"Ok pinky say hello to the outside world." he said as Sakura took a step out

They were on the large mountain and the cave was a little walk up. She looked over the mountain at the sound village. Hundreds of sound ninja were patrolling the gates and the city.

"Ok we need to go up.", he said, "Once we reach the cave we can start everything"

"Then what are we waiting for?" she said

The two quickly made their way up the mountain side. What they didn't notice was the figure watching them from a nearby tree. The figure was blended in but slowly became very visible.

"Madara-san isn't going to like this." White Zetsu said

"**We should hurry up and alert him.**" black Zetsu said

"I knew something was wrong with Tadao." white Zetsu said

Zetsu slowly sunk back into the tree.

Tadao and Sakura entered the cave and began to look around. It was very dark with some lanterns leading the way deeper into the cave. They heard loud banging from deeper into the cave.

"We should check it out." Sakura said taking a step

"Just wait." Tadao replied grabbing one of the scrolls

The scroll made a loud poof and a huge amount of paper bombs appeared. He quickly jumped on the ceiling's surface and placed them with impossibly fast speeds. He formed a hand sign and they became disguised as rocks.

"Those paper bombs will detonate once touched by fire." Tadao said realizing Sakura was worried, "They will not exploded after a certain amount of time."

"Can we just start moving?" Sakura asked

Tadao nodded and they began to walk deeper into the cave. The loud banging sound began to get louder. They quickly walked down the long cave. As they walked a faint light was shining. They walked faster realizing the light getting brighter. The light engulfed them and they squinted. They rubbed their eyes for a bit and were able to see clearly.

"What the hell is this?" Sakura mumbled in awe and shock

"What are they doing?" Tadao asked himself

They couldn't believe what they were seeing. It was a huge circular area of the cave. It was bigger than the chunnin exam stadium. It was actually far bigger. There were many mine carts leading into tunnels. In the center was a huge bottomless pit. It went far down with small ledges where rock was being drilled. Many small tents and buildings were set up all along the cave. Large lights hung over the bottomless pit giving light to the entire area. Multiple sound ninja and a few white Zetsu were scattered along the place taking large pieces of the rock and putting it on mine carts.

"Tadao-sama what a pleasure t is to see you." a sound ninja said walking over, "Madara-sama has ordered us to find samples of that poison. He went through your work and discovered that the rocks in this cave can be broken down into poison. We are the excavation team."

"Stop this madness." Tadao said angrily, not only annoyed his research was touched, but that they had been gathering more samples of this poison for the war

"Madara-sama outranks you", the sound ninja replied, "we won't be stopping. Hey, who is that girl? She shouldn't be here!"

"She is my new assistant." Tadao quickly replied

The sound ninja glared at Tadao and then at Sakura. He then shrugged and turned away. Sakura felt like punching the guy, but felt if she did it was over. Tadao nodded and watched as the sound ninja walked away. Sakura looked worriedly at Tadao.

"Don't worry pinky. See that building over there?" Tadao asked pointing and watching as Sakura nodded, "That is our target."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Sakura asked noticing the Uchiha symbol painted on the building

Tadao smiled and took the rest of his scrolls out. Hundreds of small paper bombs were tied onto ropes. He attached a senbon to them and threw them into the ceiling making sure no one was able to see him. They connected into the rock and stuck there. Tadao smiled realizing it was very hard to see them. He tied a large thin wire to them, and then tied them to a large rock.

"As long as these stay unnoticeable we will be fine." he whispered to Sakura

Sakura smiled and the two began to run towards the large building.

The sound ninja commander in the cave sat in a large building. He was tired from the excavation and was waiting for Madara to give him a promotion.

"There are two intruders." Zetsu said appearing before them, "One is wearing an Akatsuki robe and known as Tadao. The other one is a pink haired medic from the leaf. Kill them at all costs."

"What about Madara-sama?" the sound commander asked

"He'll be coming very soon." Zetsu said sinking into the ground

The sound commander walked to large microphone. He tapped it a couple times to make sure it was on. Loudspeakers were across the entire place making it easier for him.

"Sound ninja we have two very annoying intruders." the sound commander said, "You should know one of them as Tadao. Under Madara-sama's orders we will kill him along with a pink haired medic. That is an order."

The sound ninja were a little surprised. They had always trusted Tadao. It didn't matter now, he was an enemy.

Tadao and Sakura quickly ran as fast as they could. Sound ninja had begun their attack against them. Kunai were constantly flying towards them.

"How do we get out of this mess?" Sakura asked dodging a kunai and then punching a sound ninja in the face

"I don't know pinky." he said, "Just keep fighting."

"I have an idea", Sakura said quickly, "Get them as close as to the edge as you can."

Tadao nodded and grabbed a scroll he always kept with him. There were about ten enemies coming towards him. He opened the scroll sending hundreds of senbon towards them. They jumped away dodging the attack.

"You know you are surrounded." one sound ninja said, "You can't live much longer."

"What now pinky?" he asked a bit concerned realizing there were enemies on all sides

"Jump up", she whispered

He gave her an odd look. She glared back at him and he did what he was told. He jumped far into the air and Sakura reared back her fist.

"Hey what are you doing girl?" one asked

She punched the ground as hard as she could. The ground instantly began to shatter. The ground over the edge shattered, and the sound ninja who were near fell into the bottomless pit. She turned and noticed the sound ninja behind her. They were slowly getting up.

"Ninja art: Senbon Storm!"

Hundreds of senbon fell onto the enemies killing them instantly. Sakura looked to see Tadao falling back to the ground with a scroll in his hand.

"Thanks." Sakura mumbled smiling

"Come on we need to get to that building." Tadao said landing and running

Sakura followed running with him. She now knew the importance of this. This was a real life death situation.

The sound commander looked out the large window. He watched annoyed as his men had begun to get cut down by the traitor and the pink-haired medic. He then watched with more fear as the two closed in on Madara's special lab.

"He'll kill me if they do anything there." he murmured turning and running towards the door out of the office

"Where are you going?"

The man turned slowly with fear in his eyes and said, "Madara-sama what a pleasure to see you."

"I was going to ask you where their corpses were." Madara said, "It appears though you failed."

"I'm sorry Madara-sama." he said fearing for his life

"You didn't do a thing you coward." Madara said vanishing and reappearing with a fist threw the man's chest, "My new world won't need a coward like you."

The man started coughing blood. Madara removed his arm and watched as the sound commander fell to the ground. Madara then turned and walked out of the room.

Tadao and Sakura continued killing the multiple enemies that appeared before them. It was like a never ending wave of sound ninja. The two quickly dodged a couple kunai and kicked the door open to the large building. Tadao shut the door and formed a hand sign. The door was covered in a strange seal.

"That should keep them out for a long time." Tadao said taking heavy breaths, "We're almost done pinky."

"So what now?" Sakura asked

Suddenly two Zetsu appeared from out of the ground. Tadao quickly turned but was grabbed by one of them. Sakura quickly punched the other killing it. Sakura then turned and ran towards the other Zetsu. Tadao quickly ducked as Sakura smashed a fist into the Zetsu's head. Tadao instantly fell to the ground having lost a lot of chakra.

"Thanks pinky." Tadao mumbled breathing heavily, "Come on we don't have much time."

Tadao motioned to follow him. They walked into a large lab area. Sakura immediately noticed all of the strange tools. The Uchiha symbol was painted on a wall. Tadao walked over to a cabinet and formed hand signs. The cabinet opened up instantly.

"This is a special cabinet." Tadao said, "Only Madara and I are allowed in."

"So what is in it?" Sakura asked

"These." Tadao mumbled pulling out a large jar with two eyes in it

The jar was made of glass except for the bottom. The bottom could not be seen through and was made of a special material. Sakura looked closely at the eyes and realized something.

"Those are Sasuke's aren't they?" Sakura mumbled

"Yes they are"

Tadao and Sakura turned around. Fear surged through them at they came face to face with Madara.

"I believe those are my eyes." Madara said calmly

"No they are not." Sakura said angrily

Sakura took a step forward. Then she fell with a searing pain in her back. She looked up to see Tadao smiling at her wickedly.

"Sorry pinky." Tadao said smiling

"You bastard I trusted you." Sakura said gritting her teeth

"I'm sorry." he said, "It was a plan I had all along."

Madara looked at him strangely. He had to admit he himself was confused.

"Give me the eyes." Madara said, "We'll begin the transplant."

Tadao nodded and began to walk over towards Madara.

**Sorry for such a late update, but I hope you enjoyed this new chapter. Thanks a lot! Next Sunday there will be an update. Thanks! **


	14. Chapter 14

**Hi everyone! So chapter fourteen is up, and there will be a couple major events. Then there will be one more chapter after this. Then there will be one more chapter that will be a bit calmer. Anyway thanks for reading! **

**Chapter 14: **

Tadao stood over Sakura who was currently having a hard time getting up. He had hit placed a small amount of paralyses poison. It would take three minutes for it to fade from the body system. Minutes though felt like an eternity in this state. The thing she didn't understand was why he hadn't given Madara the eyes yet.

"How could you?", Sakura mumbled

"Hand over the eyes Tadao." Madara said ignoring Sakura

"Hold on just wait a bit." Tadao replied

"I said give me the eyes." Madara responded his anger building

Sakura started to slowly realize she could start to move. She started to stumble a bit but got up. Tadao smiled slightly and dodged a fist Sakura sent towards him.

"Hey pinky calm down." Tadao said smiling

"Why should I do that?" she asked trying to punch him again

"Sorry Madara-sama here are your eyes." Tadao said throwing the glass towards him

Madara got it and looked angrily at Tadao, "You could have damaged them."

Tadao grabbed Sakura's arm and twisted it behind her back. He whispered something in her ear and she smiled. Madara looked at them curiously. He heard a strange sizzling sound and looked down. He suddenly realized something. He turned the glass upside down revealing three paper bombs.

"Damn it", Madara yelled realizing it was all a trick. Madara quickly sent his hand into the glass and grabbed one of the eyes. As the bombs exploded Madara quickly transported himself, but not without some damage.

"No time to waste we need to go", Tadao yelled

The two quickly ran past where Madara was standing. Suddenly Madara reappeared and quickly looked around. He was hoping he could find something to place the remaining eyes in. His Akatsuki robe was slightly ripped and burned in some places.

Tadao and Sakura were right up against the door they had come in through. They could hear loud banging on the other side. It was obvious the sound ninja were trying to get in.

"Pinky stand behind me." Tadao said pulling out a scroll

Sakura nodded and did what she was told. He formed a hand sign and the seal disappeared causing the door to open. Tadao raised the scroll and hundreds of senbon shot from the scroll. The sound ninja found themselves being covered with the weapons.

"Time to go." Tadao said throwing the scroll off to the side

Sakura nodded and the two quickly ran on top the bodies that littered the floor. Just as they left the building Tadao felt something slice through his shoulder. He turned to see a sound ninja with a large knife tool. Blood feel from his wound and Sakura turned and noticed. She quickly punched the sound ninja in the face, sending him flying into the endless pit.

"I'll heal you." Sakura said

"No you won't, we can't waste anymore time." Tadao said taking a deep breath

The two began to run once again dodging multiple kunai. They heard a loud banging sound and they turned. Large rocks were being launched at them from sound ninja.

"Damn they're starting to get crafty." Tadao mumbled jumping away

"No time to applaud them." Sakura said jumping and dodging another rock

The two continued to run as quickly as they could. Sound ninja had begun to pop out from almost everywhere. Sakura quickly jumped high in the air and threw a kunai towards one. The ninja dodged and jumped in the air with her. Tadao watched but was instantly attacked. Sakura and her opponent continued to clash with kunai as they neared the ground. Sakura jumped away and the ninja ran towards her. She punched the ground causing the ninja to fall over. She then quickly threw a kunai at him. It hit the target and she ran past him. Tadao quickly finished off two of his enemies and looked over at Sakura.

"I'm running out of chakra." Sakura said taking heavy breaths, "We need to leave."

"I understand." Tadao mumbled

The two continued to run along the side of the pit. Suddenly multiple kunai flew straight towards them. The two dived behind a rock as more kunai began to fly towards them. Suddenly the kunai stopped and Tadao looked out from behind the rock. His eyes narrowed as he realized the problem. Three Zetsu stood across the pit. They each held kunai along with multiple sound ninja.

"Sakura they have us. If we try running we are finished." Tadao mumbled, "We need to come up with a plan before it becomes worse."

"How could it become worse?" Sakura asked taking a kunai out of her bag

A sudden explosion caused both Tadao and Sakura to be sent flying forward into another rock. The sound ninja held multiple kunai with paper bombs connected to them.

"Tadao surrender your weapons and yourself along with the brat to Madara-sama." A sound ninja yelled stepping forward, "We wouldn't want to cause anymore unnecessary damages."

Tadao looked up towards the sound ninja. He barely had any chakra, and time was running out. If they surrendered now, their entire plan would be wasted.

"Sakura I want you to run." Tadao mumbled, "I need you to dodge as much as you can. I should be able to hold them back."

Sakura nodded and got up. Tadao stepped in front of her and grabbed another scroll.

"Tadao I'll give you one last warning!" the sound ninja commanded

Tadao turned to Sakura and nodded. Sakura got the mission and began to run. Tadao quickly formed a hand sign. The sound ninja watched as a large bow and arrow fell from the seal on the scroll. Tadao grabbed it and grabbed three arrows.

"Kill them!: the sound ninja yelled launching a kunai. Several more were thrown towards Tadao.

Tadao instantly pulled back the arrow and let it fly. He formed a hand sign and a small seal on the arrow began to glow. Some kunai slammed into Tadao's stomach causing him to double over. The seal on the arrow suddenly stopped glowing and hundreds of senbon flew from the arrows. The sound ninja were instantly overwhelmed and killed. Some were lucky enough to dodge. Sakura suddenly stopped running and turned. Tadao had reached for the second of his third arrow. He shot it and it slammed into one of the sound ninja. The ninja fell to the ground dead.

"He's getting way too injured." Sakura mumbled, "Every time he fires a bow kunai fly back at him. His wounds are getting really bad."

Tadao grabbed the third arrow. He swiped some blood from on of his wounds and placed it on the tip. He fired it causing it to suddenly multiply. Multiple arrows flew into the remaining sound ninja ending their lives. Tadao slumped to the ground exhausted and injured.

"Damn it." Sakura mumbled

She ran over and began to heal a couple of his wounds. He looked up and nodded in appreciation. Suddenly she heard a noise. She turned around to see sound ninja were starting to get closer. She knew she was running out of time. Her chakra levels were very weak. The only thing she was really concerned about was Madara, who had not made an appearance yet at the time. Naruto was still poisoned and she didn't know how much longer she had left.

"I'm not about to loose here today." she mumbled

She grabbed a kunai and threw it. It missed a sound ninja's neck by inches. The sound ninja smiled a bit and ran towards her. Sakura quickly dodged his attack and punched him into the bottomless bit. Tadao got up and the two began to run quickly. They dodged multiple attacks once again. Five kunai were sent flying towards them and they jumped behind a rock for cover.

"Hey pinky we just need to go a bit further." Tadao said smiling weakly, "Then we can escape."

Sakura nodded and remembered the paper bombs. They quickly emerged from behind the rocks and began to run as quickly as they could. Sound ninja followed them as quickly as they could.

"Tadao I really don't want to kill you so just surrender already." a sound ninja yelled

Tadao smiled slightly as if it was a joke. He quickly threw ten senbon into the ninja. Sakura was slightly ahead of him which was good for Tadao.

"Pinky do you remember where I tied that wire?" Tadao yelled dodging a couple kunai

"Yeah I do." Sakura yelled

"Take this, I'm pretty sure you know what to do." Tadao yelled throwing her matches

Sakura caught them and looked at them oddly.

'Matches? What the hell was she supposed to do with matches?' she thought to herself, "Wait a minute."

She quickly grabbed one of the matches and lit it. She ran as fast as she could towards the wire. Tadao smiled realizing she knew what to so.

"What the hell is that little girl doing?" a sound ninja yelled

Sakura quickly placed the lit match on the thin wire. She watched as it traveled up the line and towards the paper bombs.

"Run pinky, this isn't going to be good if we are still in here!" Tadao yelled running next to her and grabbing the matches, "I think I'll need them for later."

Sakura nodded and ran with him. The sound ninja were too stunned to think of something. The fire was already touching the paper bombs. Time seemed to slow down as there was a loud bang and the room turned bright white. The sound ninja screamed in panic. They started running towards the cave entrance where they had seen Tadao and Sakura turn into. Large rocks fell from the ceiling smashing various people and buildings. Sound ninja who were on the lower levels unable to get out were either killed by the large rocks or fell of into the bottomless pit. Fire began to burn everything and rocks were smashing into all of the labs. The place was literally collapsing in on itself.

Tadao and Sakura were running side by side. Sound ninja were following them but not attacking. They seemed to just want to get out of there. Sakura squinted her eyes and looked outside. Large dark clouds covered the sky and rain had begun to fall gently. They were almost there. Sakura turned to see the sound ninja though catching up to them. Tadao noticed too and took off his Akatsuki robe. On the inside of the Akatsuki robe were many paper bombs. He threw it behind them and covered his ears. There was a loud bang and screams. The screams became muffled as rocks fell crushing and trapping sound ninja. Sakura and Tadao were sent flying slightly due to the impact of the blast. They rolled for a bit, and realized that they were pretty much outside the cave entrance.

"Good job pinky." he said smiling, "We did it."

"I have a bad feeling though." Sakura mumbled

Tadao nodded slightly, "Same here, I think we were forgetting something."

Just then someone appeared from underneath the ground. The figure held a kunai which he quickly stabbed into the ex-Akatsuki member. Sakura mouthed his name but no sound came out. She didn't realize how the Akatsuki member had gotten there, but remembered his ability to teleport.

"Betraying the Akatsuki was the worst idea you could possibly imagine." Madara said removing the kunai and turning towards Sakura, "As for you, I'm going to kill you right now."

Sakura slowly got up and looked at the masked Akatsuki member. Fear surged through her realizing she may die. If she died, Naruto would die. She needed to fight, but realized it would be useless. She looked behind the masked man and noticed Tadao slowly getting up. He quickly smiled and took out the pack of matches. She widened her eyes as he took out the matches and lit one. Madara turned hearing the strange sound. His sharingan eye widened as Tadao threw it in the air. Sakura remembered how he had placed paper bombs there and ran out of the cave.

"Good luck pinky!" he yelled as there was a bright flash of light and the cave entrance was engulfed in flames. Rocks fell as Madara watched, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

Sakura looked at the cave a bit stunned. He had just sacrificed himself so she could get away. She held his headband and realized he died so she could bring the cure over to Naruto. She quickly got back up on her feet and ran. She ran past the lab she found the cure in, she ran past the bar she found Tadao in, she ran through the sound and past the sound ninja who were running towards the cave. She realized the large gate was in front of her. She wasn't going to let some gate be the thing to stop her when she had gotten so far. She quickly pulled out a kunai with a paper bomb tied to it. It hit into the wall and exploded.

"What the hell was that?' a sound ninja yelled

Sakura didn't care. She started running as fast as her legs could take her. She wasn't going to stop until she reached the leaf village. She turned and noticed two sound ninja following her.

"Slow down little girl we're not going to hurt you." he said smiling

Sakura turned and launched a kunai hitting him in the chest. The other sound ninja turned to face his fallen comrade. By the time he turned back to face Sakura, she was already gone.

Several sound ninja surrounded the cave looking for a way in. It had collapsed in on itself killing many sound ninja. That was a heavy blow on the military. Kisame (**Yeah Kisame hadn't died yet when I began writing!**) stood outside the cave entrance looking around for signs of life. Suddenly a fist emerged from one of the rocks. Madara slowly stepped out with his Akatsuki cloak slightly ripped.

"Looks like they got you Madara-sama." Kisame said smiling

"Tadao surprised me at last moment. Unfortunately I've lost one of Sasuke's eyes. That will put a major set back in our plans", Madara said dusting off his Akatsuki cloak and pulling out a jar containing one more eye, "I'm going to retrieve the rinnegan after I've rested."

Kisame nodded and the two walked off as sound ninja began excavating the rocks.

_**Naruto **_

Tsunade stood over the blond who began to show worse symptoms. Almost the minute the clock struck midnight he had a spike in symptoms. His fever exceeded beyond normal levels. Several doctors put him in an ice bath trying to keep his temperature down. A doctor approached Tsunade who had sickening look on her face.

"Tsunade-sama we are loosing him." the doctor said, "He's going into shock from sudden loss of blood. We'll stop that but there isn't much hope. I'll give him until six o'clock pm."

Tsunade fell to her knees realizing she had failed. She did everything to protect him. It was over he was going to die and they hadn't even been able to break a small hole in the poison. She could only hope Sakura was coming with some kind of cure before it was too late.

_**Naruto {A couple hours later}**_

Sakura was running at top speeds now. She had taken two food pills at the same time which she knew was not healthy. She was going to make it she was sure of it. The only thing she wasn't sure about was her health. Could she make it?

"Come on", Sakura mumbled urging herself to go on

The wounds she received from the cave still stung. She was out of chakra and out of weapons. She could only think about Naruto. He was the reason she had to go on. One day without seeing him would kill her. An entire life time would destroy her.

"Come on." she mumbled once again taking a huge jump, "I'm going to make it."

She suddenly felt joy surge through her body. The same town she had passed on her way was right up ahead. She was close. She was so close it burned. She smiled a wide smile and began to run faster.

_**Naruto**_

Kakashi, Gai and the other Anbu slowly walked into the leaf village. They weren't able to find Sakura. They in turn lost hope for her. Gai didn't want to give up but they had too. They realized how far into enemy territory they were and turned back. They could only hope she was fine.

**Ah so that is how I will end this chapter. I'll update soon, and thank you all for the reviews! **


	15. Chapter 15

**Well then this should be my last official chapter. Next will be a small epilogue or something. Well I hoped you enjoyed the story. I've been saying this a lot lately but sorry for the late update. I don't even want to get into the problems with my computer. Thanks! **

**Chapter 15: **

Tsunade sat by Naruto emerald green chakra flowing from her hands. She was hoping that whatever pain he was going through could be eased by her healing. The other doctors were running around in a mad frenzy trying multiple different cures on the poison. Nothing was working for them. Shizune was standing next to Tsunade testing his vital signs. They were very weak compared to three hours ago.

"Tsunade-sama this we are about three hours away from when he is supposed to pass." Shizune mumbled, "There is still no sign of Sakura."

"Damn it." Tsunade mumbled angrily

There wasn't a single poison in the world that had been able to best her. Somehow this Akatsuki member was able to create that type of poison. Either she was starting to loose her touch, or she was just beaten. She still had three more hours though. They could still find the cure if Sakura didn't.

_**Naruto**_

Sakura was starting to move sluggishly. She was so close too. Judging by the sun it was about three thirty pm. She predicted she had about two hours and a half.

"Come on." she urged herself, "Go, come on."

She was starting to only make small jumps and not the large one she was hoping for. Her running ability was weakening. She felt the same way when Naruto in his four-tails state hit her. She was starting to weaken and become lightheaded. Finally after a little bit longer she fell to the ground taking heavy breaths.

"You idiot come on what am I doing?" Sakura mumbled to herself trying to push herself up, "Naruto is dying right now. I can't let him die."

She realized she couldn't do it. She had lost so much energy and she was out of food pills. Tears stung at her eyes as she fell back down to the ground.

"I can't do anything can I?" she mumbled to herself, "I couldn't help Chiyo baa-sama, I just sit here and do nothing. Always allowing the people around me to save me." more tears fell from her eyes; "I told Naruto horrible things I didn't mean. I hurt him so much and all he does is help me. Now look, my attempt to help someone I love, and I'm on the ground unable to move."

Had she really come all this way to just give up? All the people who helped her along this mission, and she was just going to give up?

"No I'm not going to be weak." she mumbled placing her hands to the ground and pushing up, "I'm going to get that cure to Naruto."

She lifted herself up from the ground. She took a couple steps forward and continued walking. She was going to prove that she wasn't weak. She was going to show everyone how powerful she could be. Her steps quickened and she broke into a full out run.

"This is for Naruto and everyone who helped me." Sakura mumbled quickening her pace, "Because I love Naruto. I wouldn't know what to do without him."

She wiped away some of the tears and continued to run. She smiled slightly running as quickly as she could. She was going to make it. She knew it.

_**Naruto**_

Ino and Shikamaru walked through the streets of Konoha. Shikamaru was holding an umbrella over them as rain fell. Ino had a worried look on her face while Shikamaru had sad lost look. They had both gotten word that Naruto was going to die pretty soon. Ino then received word that Sakura was no where to be seen.

"I'm worried about both of them." Ino confessed, "I know I shouldn't be worried since they are both strong but…"

"I know what you mean Ino." Shikamaru mumbled, "I'm sure though they'll both be fine."

Ino nodded and watched as Shikamaru placed the umbrella in her hands. They were standing out in front of the gates. For awhile now Ino would stand by the gates hoping Sakura would come back. She also had a bad feeling about the rain that was falling. To her it seemed like a very bad omen.

"I need to go." Shikamaru said a bit sadly, "The elders think that I should go on a mission, and want me to be briefed on it before I go."

"I'll be fine ok." Ino said, "Anyway I'm just going to wait for Sakura."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow realizing she didn't use her nickname for Sakura. He dismissed it and ran off to the briefing room.

_**Naruto **_

Naruto had his eyes closed shut. Blood fell from the side of his mouth. Doctors had begun to leave the room. Only three remained along with Tsunade and Shizune. They had just lost hope and thought it was good for Tsunade to say some form of goodbyes. Shizune had a comforting hand on Tsunade's shoulder.

"I failed just like the other two times." Tsunade mumbled looking down at Naruto

He looked like a ghost of himself. His hair had lost most of its color and he had his eyes closed tightly. He would occasionally shake violently in pain. His skin was very pale and he looked horribly weak.

"Tsunade you didn't intend for this to happen." Shizune said calmly, "He'll be fine though. I know he'll be well respected by everyone, wherever he goes."

"That isn't helping Shizune. I don't want him to go anywhere. He belongs here." Tsunade responded angrily as a tear fell from her eye, "He is not only one of our most gifted shinobi, but think about how everyone will react. The villagers view him a different light now. I can't let him die."

"Tsunade-sama I don't want him to die either, but we've tried everything. Shizune responded a bit louder then she wanted to be, "I'm sorry but look at him. We've tried Tsunade-sama, we've tried", she said quieting down

"I know Shizune." Tsunade mumbled

Shizune nodded and looked at her master. She was going to take this the hardest probably. Though Tsunade hid her feelings most of the time, she loved Naruto like a son. She only wanted the best for him.

_**Naruto (5:00pm) **_

Sakura realized that the weather was changing. The sun began to change to clouds. Rain started pouring on her. She was so close right now. Just another two miles. It was nothing compared to what she had ran. She was going to make it. She quickened her pace. She looked at the bag she had which held the cure. Her running quickened until she was sprinting. She was breathing heavily, but she wasn't going to stop.

"Almost there", she said to herself taking more deep breaths, "I'm almost there."

Pictures of Naruto flashed through her head once again. She remembered him cheering for her in the first chunnin exams they took when she was against Ino. She remembered his promise of a lifetime to her and all the trouble it caused him. She suddenly remembered him standing in front of her as the poisoned kunai went flying towards her. She was going to make it. She was going to save him before it was too late.

_**Naruto (5:15) **_

Shizune kept watching all vital signs on Naruto. They were very weak, but at least he was alive. Tsunade continued to sit by his bedside whispering something to him. Other doctors were just at a loss for words. They had no idea how in the world the poison was working. They knew though that he was close to the final attack, which would most likely be on his chakra networks. This would probably be the beginning of the end.

"Tsunade-sama we have forty-five minutes left." a doctor mumbled

"I understand." Tsunade said sadly

Shizune sat next to Tsunade who had a grief stricken look on her face. How were they ever going to recover?

_**Naruto (5:30) **_

Ino continued to sit on the bench near the gates waiting. She could only hope that Sakura would come through the gates soon with good news. She could only hope that Sakura did come through the gates.

"Wait who's that?" a guard yelled pointing

Ino immediately stood and ran to where the guard was. She looked to where he was pointing and a sudden look of shock and happiness crossed her face.

"Sakura!" she yelled running towards her friend

Sakura looked pretty badly beat up, but didn't stop walking. Ino quickly ran towards her along with the guard, and Ino gave her a large hug.

"Do you have any idea how worried we were?" Ino yelled

"Get me to the hospital." Sakura managed to say though being strangled by the hug, "I have a cure."

Ino stopped hugging her, and looked at her. She smiled at her friend and looked at the guard. The guard got the message and scooped up the teen. They were going to bring her to the hospital and fast.

_**Naruto (5:45) **_

Tsunade felt almost sick thinking that time was running out. The blonde's life was now simply on mere minutes. Time was beginning to feel like a painful curse to her.

"Tsunade-sama!"

Tsunade turned to see Ino running into the room taking heavy breaths.

"What's going on Ino?" Tsunade asked

"Sakura she's back!" Ino said excited, "She has a cure!"

Tsunade almost fainted but was caught by Shizune. Tsunade looked behind Ino to see Sakura with one of the guards. He was helping her walk. Tsunade gasped looking at her student who was pretty badly beat up.

"Sakura." Tsunade mumbled, "Let her through Ino!" the blonde suddenly yelled

Ino nodded and Sakura quickly walked towards Naruto. She placed the bag on the small table on the side. Though she looked like she was going to pass out, she kept going. Everyone watched her as she took out two different vials.

"Sakura what happened?" Tsunade asked noticing how badly beaten up she was

"I'll tell you everything later." Sakura said smiling pouring the liquid into a syringe

They all watched as she quickly inserted the needle into the vein in Naruto's arm. The fluid slowly went in. Sakura quickly glanced at the clock.

'5:50.' she thought, 'That should give me enough time.'

She watched as the last of the liquid went into Naruto. He arched his back and let out a painful cry. She quickly stroked his hair trying to calm him down.

"I know it hurts." she mumbled still stroking his hair, "It will be ok. Everything will be fine."

He finally took a few deep breaths and slowly rested on the bed. Once he was all calmed down, Sakura took another syringe and filled it with another liquid.

"This one is the actual cure." Sakura said

She placed it into his other arm. She quickly injected the liquid. She glanced over to the clock. It was 5:57. Just three more minute, before it was too late. She knew she had made it. Naruto once again arched his back and cried out in pain. He started taking heavy breaths, but slowly placed his head back on the pillow.

"Did it work?" Tsunade asked

Shizune quickly ran over and checked his vitals. They were very weak, but they were working. Shizune quickly checked all the machines again. Once again everything was fine. Now all they had to do was wait and watch.

_**Naruto (6:05) **_

Shizune watched the clock and took vitals once again. Sakura was barely keeping herself from passing out. She just wanted to see the results. Tsunade was holding her shoulders. She was worried as Sakura was. Shizune turned and smiled.

"Everything is fine. His chakra network seems intact; we caught it before it did the major damage." Shizune said suddenly feeling a strong, yet dark chakra, "It appears the Kyubi has begun to heal all his wounds. Now that the poison is gone I think the Kyubi can start healing."

Tsunade tightened her grip on Sakura. Sakura felt something wet fall onto the top of her hair. Was her master crying? It took her a few seconds to realize she was also crying herself. They were tears of joy though. She couldn't believe it.

"The blood samples." the doctor yelled running into the room, "They come back negative for the poison."

Sakura turned and looked at her master. She looked so happy. Sakura felt her self smile as well.

"Thank god." Sakura whispered

Her eyes slowly closed and she would've fallen to the ground if her master didn't catch her. Shizune looked worriedly at Tsunade.

"Is she ok?"

"She'll be fine just very tired." Tsunade said smiling

They would bring her to a hospital room to recover. Everyone was overjoyed. Sakura had found the cure. Naruto was fine and now everything could return to normal.

**Well then everyone it appears this story is almost over. Happily there is a happy ending! The story isn't over yet. Still one more chapter. Thanks very much! **


	16. Chapter 16

**Well then here is the epilogue to the story. It will be a happy ending or so I hope. Anyway thanks very much. **

**Epilogue **

Sakura rubbed her eyes a bit. She didn't know where she was. All she knew was she felt very refreshed. She rubbed her eyes once again and opened her eyes. At first she couldn't see due to light shining into her view. She rubbed her eyes once again and slowly sat up. Sakura heard a low peeping noise and started to look around quicker.

"Sakura." Tsunade said with relief as Sakura fixed her eyes on her teacher

"Tsunade-sama where am I?"

"Sakura you've been out for two days. We were getting very worried, but knew you would wake up soon." Tsunade said

"What about Naruto? Is he doing ok?" Sakura asked a bit worried, "Did the cure work?"

"Don't worry Sakura he's fine." Tsunade replied smiling, "He recovered about two hours after he was given the cure. He was pretty weak, but he kept asking for you. You were out so we had to tell him to wait."

"Can I see him now?" Sakura asked

"I'll get him right after I have a quick talk with you", Tsunade said, "As well, before you see him I need to warn you, he is still very weak. He won't be completely back to himself for another week."

Sakura nodded a bit upset Naruto was still sick like that. She was happy though that he was alive, on the other hand. She looked up at Tsunade who had a very serious look on her face.

"What happened? How'd you get the cure?" she asked

"Well to start off I was able to infiltrate the sound." Sakura started off, "After that the Akatsuki Tadao and I developed a cure. In my bag over there is all the info we gathered. To make it simple it was a sodium based poison."

"Sodium based?" Tsunade asked, "Did we really overlook something like that?" she mumbled deep in thought, "We should have gone slower, but we became frantic." Tsunade finished looking a little defeated

"Don't worry Tsunade-sama is was much harder than you think it was." Sakura said, "It took us a long time to get it."

Tsunade nodded and Sakura reached to the side of the bed. Her bag was on the table next to her bed. She grabbed it, and took out the instructions for the cure..

"So after we found a cure he decided it was necessary to destroy the cave where the poison was." Sakura continued, "We didn't expect it to be filled with sound ninja. Somehow they found out we were against them."

"So what exactly happened?" Tsunade asked

"I'm getting there." Sakura reassured, "Well anyway, we placed hundreds of paper bombs everywhere. We were then attacked by the sound ninja in the cave. Then Tadao decided we needed to destroy Sasuke's eyes. We raced to Madara's lab and found them. Madara found us though, and threatened us. Tadao pretended to betray me, and then tricked Madara. He destroyed the eyes and we escaped"

"Where is Tadao then?"

"Well after the cave collapsed we were about to escape. Madara attacked us dealing a very bad wound to Tadao. When Madara went to kill me, Tadao sacrificed himself by using some paper bombs we placed earlier. Madara was distracted, so I escaped."

"Thanks Sakura." Tsunade said, "You don't known how thankful I am for what you did for me. Naruto is someone I hold really dear to me. He helped me a lot, and I was afraid I would loose him. Then I was even more afraid to loose you."

"Thanks Tsunade-sama." Sakura said smiling

"I'm going to get Naruto, you just wait here." Tsunade said smiling

Sakura nodded and put her head back on the pillow. She began to think about everything. She was happy, yet afraid to see Naruto again. She didn't know why, she just was. She heard the door knob turn and looked up. The door opened really fast surprising her.

"Sakura-chan are you ok?" Naruto asked walking in as quickly as possible

Tsunade followed behind him, "Naruto you know how badly you still feel. Walking like that wouldn't be a good idea."

Sakura watched as Naruto and Tsunade bickered back and forth. She looked at Naruto, and a wave of joy and relief came over her. He was still here, and apparently very healthy. She suddenly realized that Naruto was looking at her very concerned. She looked into his sapphire eyes. They hadn't changed at all.

"Sakura-chan." He whispered, smiling

"I'll let you two have some time alone." Tsunade said leaving and shutting the door

"Naruto-kun." she whispered sitting up trying to fight back some tears of relief, "I was so worried about you."

"You were worried about me?" Naruto replied in a warm and comforting voice, "I was worried sick about you!"

Naruto sat on the side of her bed. Sakura just smiled and looked at him. She just thought about what she said. How could she ever hate him?

"Naruto-kun I'm sorry." Sakura said

"Sakura-chan if it wasn't for you I'd be dead right now." Naruto said, "I'm sorry Sakura-chan I made you worry so much."

"You know I kept my promise." Sakura said smiling, "You know what that means."

"Sakura-chan", Naruto said smiling, "you mean it?"

"Ok course Naruto-kun. Now where should our first date be?" she was quickly cut of by Naruto

"Somewhere fancy, somewhere really, really fancy." he said noticing the strange look she was giving him, "If that's what you want."

"How about Ichiraku's?" Sakura asked, "If that is ok with you."

"Really Sakura-chan?"

"I'm positive Naruto-kun."

"Then it's a date Sakura-chan." he said, "Once I get out of the hospital of course."

Sakura smiled slightly, "You know something Naruto-kun?"

"What is it Sakura-chan?"

"I love you."

Naruto looked at her a bit. She meant it, she really meant it. He showed off his trademark grin. His cheeks were a deep red color. He was broke from his train of thought as something soft pressed against his lips. He returned the kiss. It lasted for a few more seconds until they both parted.

"Sakura-chan", he mumbled turning a bright shade of red

"I told you Naruto-kun", she said smiling, "I love you."

"I love you too Sakura-chan." Naruto replied

Naruto and Sakura both had their arms wrapped around each other's shoulders. They both smiled thinking of what the future would be like. Even if the presence of the Akatsuki still threatened them, they knew they could defeat them. Sakura smiled a little wider now. She knew to herself that with Naruto, they would be able to defeat any challenge.

**Well then this was a short chapter, but I hope it was good. Anyway, thanks a lot for all the reviews. I will admit it was really fun to write this story, even with a couple late postings. Thanks again! **


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